SEEMONS 


BY 


SOUTHERN  METHODIST  PREACHERS. 


EDITED  BY 

T.  O.  SUMMERS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


SOUTHERN  METHODIST  PUBLISHING  HOUSE. 

1881. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1881, 

BY  THE  BOOK  AGENT  OF  THE  PUBLISHING  HOUSE  or  THE  M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH, 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE. 

THIS  volume  originated  with  the  Book  Agent  and  Business 
Manager  of  the  Publishing  House.  There  is  a  demand  for 
homiletic  literature,  and  they  wish  to  do  their  part  to  supply 
it.  They  have  accordingly  secured  contributions  from  sev- 
eral of  the  bishops  and  other  ministers,  whose  discourses  will 
be  read  with  pleasure  and  with  profit 

The  Editor  has  not  taken  the  liberty  of  making  them 
quadrate  with  his  views,  in  the  few  instances  in  which,  on 
non-essential  points,  there  may  be  a  divergence;  but,  bating 
a  few  unimportant  corrections,  the  Sermons  appear  in  the 
printed  page  as  in  the  manuscripts  of  the  respective  writers. 

There  is  considerable  diversity  of  style  and  method,  as 
well  as  of  topics ;  but  the  Sermons  are  all  good  to-  the  use  of 
edifying. 

If  this  volume  meet  with  a  favorable  reception,  it  may 
soon  be  followed  by  another  series  of  a  similar  character. 

THE  EDITOR. 

Publishing  House  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, ) 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  Dec.  23, 1880.  / 


CONTENTS, 


i. 

THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH.    BY  BISHOP 

PIERCE 9 

II. 
THE   FIRST  AND  THE  LAST.     BY  BISHOP 

WlGHTMAN 24 

III. 

JOY  IN  HEAVEN  OVER  PENITENT  SIN- 
NERS. BY  THE  REV.  EDWARD  WADSWORTH, 
A.M.,  D.D.,  Alabama  Conference 38 

IV. 

ALL  FOR  GOD.    BY  THE  REV.  W.  T.  BOLLING, 

Western  Virginia  Conference 55 

V. 

INQUIRY  AND  INVITATION;  OR,  PHIL- 
IP'S PHILOSOPHY.  BY  THE  REV.  J.  B. 
McGEHEE,  A.M.,  South  Georgia  Conference....  72 

VI. 

THE  THINGS  PREPARED  FOR  THEM  THAT 
LOVE  GOD.  BY  THE  REV.  LINUS  PARKER, 
D.D.,  Louisiana  Conference 89 


6  CONTENTS. 

VII. 

PURE  RELIGION.     BY  THE  REV.  H.  PEARCE 

WALKER,  D.D.,  Kentucky  Conference 101 

VIII. 

THE  SUPREME  AIM  OF  LIFE.    BY  THE  REV. 

J.  D.  BLACKWELL,  Virginia  Conference 126 

IX. 

THE  LAST  ENEMY.  BY  THE  REV.  W.  T.  HAR- 
RIS, Memphis  Conference 153 

X. 

THE  SPREAD  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  BY  THE 
REV.  S.  A.  STEEL,  North  Mississippi  Confer- 
ence   165 

XI. 

THE  HINDERANCES  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  BY 
THE  REV.  A.  W.  MANGUM,  D.D.,  North  Caro- 
lina Conference 185 

XII. 

CHRISTIAN  COMMUNISM.  BY  THE  REV.  M. 
CALLAWAY,  A.M.,  D.D.,  North  Georgia  Confer- 
ence   209 

XIII. 

THE  INEQUALITIES  OF  LIFE,  AS  ILLUS- 
TRATING THE  WISDOM  AND  GOOD- 
NESS OF  GOD.  BY  THE  REV.  WHITEFOORD 
SMITH,  D.D.,  South  Carolina  Conference 234 


CONTENTS.  7 

XIV. 

THE  INTELLIGENCE  OF  FAITH.  BY  THE 
REV.  T.  J.  DODD,  D.D.,  Vanderbilt  Univer- 
sity   258 

XV. 
FAITH  IN  CHEIST.    BY  BISHOP  PAINE 277 

XVI. 

LESSONS  FROM  THE  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS 
BY  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST.  BY  THE  REV. 
H.  C.  SETTLE,  D.D.,  Louisville  Conference 304 

XVII. 

FUTURE  REWARDS  AND  PUNISHMENTS. 

BY  BISHOP  KAVANAUGH 318 

XVIII. 

CHRIST  AND  HIS  WORK.  BY  THE  REV.  A. 
A.  LIPSCOMB,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Vanderbilt  Univer- 
sity   340 

XIX. 

THE  GREAT  AWAKENING.  BY  THE  REV. 
O.  P.  FITZGERALD,  D.D.,  Editor  of  the  "Chris- 
tian Advocate" 371 


LIFE  LOST  AND  FOUND.  BY  THE  REV. 
JOHN  C.  GRANBERY,  D.D.,  Vanderbilt  Univer- 
sity   384 


THE  RBV.  BISHOP  GEORGE  F.  PIEROE,  D.D., 
Of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 


I. 

THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

BY  BISHOP  PIERCE. 

"  Ye  adulterers  and  adulteresses,  know  ye  not  that  the 
friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God  ?  whosoever  there- 
fore will  be  a  friend  of  the  world  is  the  enemy  of  God." 
James  iv.  4. 

THE  Epistle  of  James  is  general,  addressed  to 
the  twelve  tribes  scattered  throughout  the  world. 
Among  them  was  great  diversity  of  moral  charac- 
ter and  condition.  There  were  stout,  inveterate 
unbelievers,  full  of  prejudice,  and  active  in  their 
hostility  to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Some  were  true 
Christians,  poor  and  persecuted,  needing  the  conso- 
lation which  the  apostle  administers.  Others  were 
merely  nominal  believers,  united  with  the  Church, 
but  corrupting  it  by  their  hypocrisy  and  worldli- 
ness.  These  are  specially  characterized  and  con- 
demned in  the  language  of  the  text. 

The  Church  has  never  been  entirely  pure.  The 
gospel  net,  when  thrown,  gathers  in  the  good  and 
the  bad.  The  time  of  separation  is  not  yet;  in- 
deed, the  work  is  divine.  It  belongs  to  God  to  dis- 
cern between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  The 
ministry  sow  the  seed,  the  good  seed,  the  seed  of  the 
kingdom.  In  unguarded  hours  and  in  covert  ways 
an  enemy,  the  great  adversary  of  God  and  man, 
1*  '  (9) 


10          THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

scatters  tares.  "Let  both  grow  together  till  the 
harvest,"  is  the  Master's  command.  In  the  mean- 
while, although  despairing  of  universal  success,  the 
ministry  must  so  address  the  judgment  and  the  con- 
science of  all  and  of  each  as  if  possible  to  increase 
the  number  of  the  pure  and  faithful.  The  state  of 
the  Church  as  a  collective  body  is  a  subject  full  of 
interest  and  of  vast  importance  as  to  power  among 
men  and  as  to  final  issues,  but  the  question  of  our 
individual  salvation  is  yet  more  vital  and  absorbing. 

To  form  a  safe  judgment  of  the  Church  or  our- 
selves, we  must  recur  to  first  principles.  The  Bible 
makes  a  broad  distinction  between  the  Church  and 
the  world — the  flesh  and  the  spirit.  These  are  con- 
trary the  one  to  the  other.  They  cannot  be  recon- 
ciled. The  antagonism  is  radical  and  immutable. 
Yet  the  vain,  wicked,  corrupting  experiment  of 
harmonizing  the  two  goes  on,  perhaps  in  no  age  of 
the  Church  more  broadly  and  with  less  disguise  than 
now.  Men  and  women,  for  the  sake  of  interest  and 
pleasure,  and  in  the  spirit  of  a  cowardly  conformity, 
are  adopting  the  maxims  and  methods  of  the  world, 
and  so  obliterating  the  lines  of  dernarkation  as  to 
confirm  the  world  in  its  follies,  and  to  demoralize 
the  Church  in  its  principles  and  practice. 

The  "world"  is  a  term  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  New  Testament,  and  always  of  significant  im- 
port. We  are  not  to  understand  by  it  the  outward 
frame  of  things,  the  visible  heavens  and  earth,  but 
the  inhabitants — what  we  call  "society,"  with  its 
imperious  fashions,  its  giddy  dissipations,  its  man- 
ifold follies.  The  Apostle  John,  while  he  warns  us 


THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH.          11 

and  sets  up  an  infallible  test  of  judgment,  at  the 
same  time  defines  the  word  in  the  following  passage: 
"  Love  not  the  world,  neither  the  things  that  are  in 
the  world.  If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of 
the  Father  is  not  in  him."  These  affections  are  un- 
like— stand  opposed — they  cannot  dwell  together! 
The  expulsive  power  of  either  excludes  the  other: 
if  the  love  of  the  world  dominates,  the  love  of  the 
Father  is  cast  out.  "For  all  that  is  in  the  world 
— the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and 
the  pride  of  life — is  not  of  the  Father,  but  is  of  the 
world."  In  the  same  line  our  Saviour  said  to  the 
disciples,  "  If  the  world  hate  you,  ye  know  that  it 
hated  me  before  it  hated  you.  If  ye  were  of  the 
world,  the  world  would  love  his  own;  but  because 
ye  are  not  of  the  world,  but  I  have  chosen  you  out 
of  the  world,  therefore  the  world  hateth  you."  At 
another  time  he  said  to  the  Jews,  "Ye  are  from  be- 
neath, I  am  from  above;  ye  are  of  this  world,  I  am 
not  of  this  world  " — not  in  sympathy  with  its  tastes 
or  principles,  its  aims  or  ends.  Now  all  these  are 
strong  declarations.  They  are  instructive  and  mon- 
itory. Their  meaning  cannot  be  mistaken.  They 
discriminate  sharply  between  the  religion  of  Christ 
and  the  world  with  its  things  and  its  ways. 

The  text  implies  that  the  world — the  vain,  vicious, 
defiling  world — is  to  be  found  in  the  pale  of  the 
Church.  Some  have  made  a  treacherous,  profane, 
unholy  alliance  with  it.  The  epithets  employed  to 
characterize  them  sound  harsh  and  revolting,  but 
milder  ones  would  utterly  fail  to  intimate  the  enor- 
mity of  the  sin  condemned.  In  the  language  of 


12          THE  WORLD  IK  THE  CHURCH. 

Scripture,  idolatry  is  adultery.  The  friendship  of 
the  world  is  in  the  same  category.  The  relation  of 
the  Church  to  God  is  referred  to  under  the  idea  of 
a  marriage  covenant.  He  is  the  husband,  she  the 
bride.  So  Paul,  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  said : 
"For  I  am  jealous  over  you  with  godly  jealousy, 
for  I  have  espoused  you  to  one  husband,  that  I  may 
present  you  as  a  chaste  virgin  to  Christ."  If  we 
comprehend  and  appreciate  this  image  as  the  true 
exponent  of  the  pure  and  delicate  relations  betwixt 
Christ  and  the  Church,  no  professor  of  religion  can 
fail  to  see  in  how  many  ways  character  may  be  com- 
promised, and  with  what  diligent  circumspection 
he  must  avoid  the  appearance  of  evil. 

It  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  there  are  many  in 
the  Church  wholly  oblivious  of  these  great  princi- 
ples and  relations.  Let  us  briefly  describe  them. 
There  are  some  vain,  giddy  people  —  thoughtless 
and  impulsive — not  vicious,  perhaps,  but  carnal — 
not  immoral,  nevertheless  irreligious.  They  have 
no  fixed  habits,  or  purposes,  or  principles.  They 
float  with  the  current,  are  carried  about  with  every 
wind  that  blows — light,  frivolous,  unstable.  They 
are  of  the  earth,  earthy. 

There  is  another  class,  worldly,  unspiritual,  who 
"  walk  disorderly."  These  have  low  conceptions  of 
duty,  and  large  ideas  of  personal  rights  and  liber- 
ties. They  see  no  harm  in  many  things  against 
which  the  Church  in  every  age  has  borne  the  strong- 
est testimony.  Their  senses  have  not  been  exercised 
to  discern  good  and  evil.  They  walk  in  darkness 
and  indifference.  The  truth  is,  they  have  never 


THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH.  13 

been  converted,  and,  as  natural  men  and  women, 
they  do  not  discern  the  things  of  the  Spirit. 

Then,  too,  there  are  formalists,  who  have  vague  no- 
tions about  the  Church  and  its  ordinances,  talk  glibly 
of  baptism  and  communion,  strangers  to  self-denial 
as  a  rule  of  life,  but  pious  enough  for  forty  days  to 
lay  np  a  surplus  and  purchase  unlimited  indulgence 
for  the  rest  of  the  year.  These  are  they  who  tithe 
"mint,  anise,  and  cummin,  and  neglect  the  weight- 
ier matters  of  the  law,  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith." 
They  lavish  their  sensibilities  on  the  outward,  the 
non-essentials,  the  fringe  and  the  flowers,  until  they 
have  no  heart  left  for  genuine  self-denial  or  pains- 
taking duty. 

Besides  all  these  are  those  who  cherish  a  liberal 
theology,  holding  very  accommodating  doctrines; 
talk  much  of  the  age,  its  enlightenment  and  prog- 
ress; rejoice  in  their  freedom  from  old  superstitions, 
and  mold  their  morals  not  by  the  pattern  shown  us 
in  the  gospel,  but  by  the  conventional  notions  of 
the  social  life  to  which  they  belong.  The  senti- 
ments of  "our  set"  are  of  far  higher  authority  than 
the  deliverances  of  Sinai  or  Calvary.  These  poor 
slaves  of  the  ton,  in  their  servile  drudgery  under  the 
behests  of  their  idol,  have  neither  time  nor  heart 
for  the  holy,  purifying  tasks  of  a  sanctified  and 
sanctifying  godliness.  Beguiled  by  the  subtlety  of 
sin,  they  seem  to  be  the  victims  of  a  hopeless  in- 
fatuation. 

Now  all  these  indicate  their  moral  status  in  vari- 
ous ways,  and  at  all  times,  by  taking  their  stand 
against  scriptural  fidelity  to  conscience,  and  in  favor 


14          THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

of  worldly  conformity.  If  duty  exposes  to  reproach, 
if  difficulty  makes  obedience  a  tax  upon  the  will, 
if  Christian  independence  and  faithfulness  are  to  be 
maintained  at  a  loss,  why  then  adherence  to  .right 
would  be  an  unreasonable  exaction.  Thus  they  rea- 
son :  God  is  not  such  a  tyrant  as  to  demand  it.  The 
Church  that  insists  upon  it  is  puritanical,  supersti- 
tious, ultra,  over-righteous.  They  do  not  believe 
in  strait -jackets,  arbitrary  rules,  or  that  unrelax- 
ing  rigor  which  drives  a  man  along  a  given  line  in 
the  face  of  a  burning  furnace  or  a  den  of  lions. 
Their  theory  of  religion  is  flexible,  consults  flesh 
and  blood,  and  allows  fleshly  wisdom  to  legislate 
for  them,  legalizing  every  compliance  which  will 
shun  a  cross  or  gratify  the  desires  of  a  carnal  nat- 
ure. What  is  fashionable  is  a  more  controlling 
question  than  what  is  right.  The  friendship  of  the 
world  is  not  to  be  jeoparded  by  intruding  the  claims 
of  a  Christian  profession.  Martyrdom  for  truth 
and  righteousness  and  a  good  conscience  did  very 
well  in  the  dark  ages  —  the  old -fogy  times  —  but 
would  be  a  folly  in  our  advanced  civilization.  At 
any  rate,  these  people  are  courting  the  world — do 
not  mean  to  forestall  the  marriage  by  magnifying 
the  trifles  of  religion  into  consequence  enough  to 
disgust  the  liberal,  the  respectable,  and  the  refined. 
Of  course,  these  people  who  live  in  the  sunshine 
of  the  world's  friendship  never  take  rank  among 
the  witnesses  of  Jesus.  If  truth  be  derided,  spirit- 
ual religion  laughed  at,  they  join  with  the  mockers. 
If  error  grows  presumptuous  and  defiant,  assailing 
all  that  is  pure  and  of  good  report,  they  lift  no  voice 


THE    WORLD   IN   THE   CHURCH.  15 

in  rebuke.  Whatever  their  private  opinions  or  con- 
victions may  be,  the  circle  of  their  chosen  friends  is 
not  to  be  broken,  or  even  disturbed,  by  thrusting 
the  verities  of  Christianity  upon  their  unwilling 
ears.  They  do  not  confess  Christ  before  men.  They 
would  rather  give  up  their  place  in  the  Church  of 
God  than  to  lose  caste  among  the  devotees  of  fash- 
ion. In  the  conflicts  of  conscience  with  inclination, 
pleasure,  honor,  and  profit,  carry  the  day.  They  are 
not  dead  to  sin.  They  are  not  crucified  unto  the 
world,  nor  the  world  unto  them.  The  flesh,  with 
its  affections  and  lusts,  dominates  taste,  choice,  and 
action.  A  mess  of  pottage  will  bribe  their  con- 
science. The  excitements,  sensations,  and  dissipa- 
tions of  society,  interest  and  absorb  them.  They 
know  more  about  amateur  theatricals  than  about 
missions;  enjoy  festal  concerts  and  suppers  more 
than  revivals;  will  pay  more  for  an  "excursion" 
than  to  build  a  chapel  for  the  poor;  wonderfully 
active  in  getting  up  a  tableau,  or  rehearsing  for  a 
musical  entertainment  (working  for  the  Church,  they 
call  it) ;  but  they  never  attend  a  Church  Conference, 
or  a  prayer-meeting;  never  speak  in  love-feast,  sel- 
dom commune,  and  never  exhort  a  sinner  to  flee  the 
wrath  to  come.  Poor  souls!  they  work  upon  the 
ark,  but  they  never  enter  in;  they  are  counted  with 
the  Church,  but  live  in  the  world  and  for  the  world; 
they  swell  our  census,  but  encumber  our  progress. 

There  is  hardly  a  sin  so  gross,  or  an  evil  so  cor- 
rupting, but  that  the  world  has  something  to  say  in 
defense.  Plausible  pleas  are  made  for  suicide,  duel- 
ing, gambling,  horse-racing,  prostitution,  the  liquor 


16          THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

traffic.  If  it  were  possible,  they  would  deceive  the 
very  elect.  The  milder  expressions  of  human  de- 
pravity are  not  only  defended,  but  advocated  and 
highly  commended,  and  to  censure  them  is  well-nigh 
a  personal  insult.  Such  is  the  sophistry  of  passion 
and  the  deceitfulness  of  sin  that,  through  obsequi- 
ousness to  the  sentiments  and  maxims  of  the  world, 
the  Church  is  relaxing  her  discipline,  and  the  card- 
table,  the  theater,  and  the  dancing -saloon,  find 
friends  and  advocates  among  the  professed  disciples 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  unfaithful  wife  is  universally  condemned. 
For  her  there  is  neither  pity  nor  pardon.  But  the 
gay,  fast,  fashionable  woman,  who,  forgetful  of  the 
proprieties  of  wedlock,  flirts  promiscuously  with 
men,  and  parades  her  sensuous  charms  for  public 
admiration,  while  she  may  be  the  subject  of  sharp 
criticism,  nevertheless  is  tolerated,  and  holds  her 
place  in  society!  So  in  the  Church  scandalous  sin 
will  exclude  from  membership,  yet  the  doubtful 
compliances  with  the  follies  and  demands  of  the 
world,  now  so  frequent,  are  allowed  an  ominous  im- 
punity. In  Christian  morals  it  must  be  remembered 
that  to  impinge  upon  principle  to  do  a  doubtful  act 
is  not  merely  an  impropriety,  but  a  sin.  "  He  that 
doubteth  is  damned  if  he  eat."  "  Whatsoever  is  not 
of  faith  is  sin."  He  who  sacrifices  an  honest  doubt 
comes  into  condemnation  for  more  reasons  than  one. 
He  consents  under  a  slight  temptation  to  offend 
God  to  please  himself,  showing  that  under  more 
powerful  solicitation  he  would  yield  to  unquestioned 
transgression.  His  eye  is  not  single.  He  does  not 


THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH.          17 

aim  to  please  God.  The  divine  will  is  no  bar  to 
self-gratification.  His  duty  to  God,  his  relation  to 
others,  the  influence  of  example,  are  all  subordinate 
to  profession,  to  temptation,  the  impulse,  the  whim 
of  the  hour.  Like  the  wanton  wife,  who  trifles  with 
her  sacred  obligations,  these  worldly  people  make 
light  of  their  vows  and  covenant  with  the  Church, 
and  recklessly  wound  their  Saviour  in  the  house  of 
his  friends. 

These  friends  of  the  world  are  corrupting  the 
Church,  mortifying  their  pastors,  and  giving  occa- 
sion to  the  enemies  of  Christ  to  blaspheme.  The 
process  of  amalgamation  goes  on  almost  without 
let  or  hinderance.  This  discourse  is  entered  as  a 
caveat.  Having  stated  the  principles  of  the  text, 
and  the  distinctive  features  of  those  who  are  con- 
demned by  them,  I  propose  to  make  an  application 
of  all  to  a  single  popular  amusement. 

I  select  dancing  as  the  more  common,  most  popu- 
lar, the  least  defensible,  and,  in  some  respects,  the 
most  demoralizing.  In  the  cities  other  expressions 
of  the  worldly  spirit  occur  and  abound.  They  are 
in  the  same  condemnation.  Dancing  is  common  to 
town  and  country.  The  evil  is  ubiquitous,  pervad- 
ing all  places  and  all  grades  of  society.  It  identifies 
itself  as  an  evil  by  its  effects  on  mind,  character, 
and  social  life.  Whatever  its  form,  from  the  reel  to 
the  waltz,  round  or  square,  private  or  public,  my 
observation  is  that  in  spirit,  tendency,  and  result,  it 
is  inimical  to  every  element  of  genuine  religion.  It 
is  death  to  spiritual  life.  It  is  a  profane  intruder 
upon  the  sanctity  of  tho  Church.  A  dancing  com- 


18  THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

munity  is  not  religious — will  not  be,  cannot  be. 
Bishop  Mcllvaine  uttered  a  great  truth  when,  being 
asked  by  a  lady,  "Is  it  any  harm  for  a  Christian  to 
dance?  "  replied,  "A  Christian  never  wants  to  dance." 
He  or  she  has  no  heart  for  it.  It  is  a  forbidden 
thing,  unbecoming,  incongruous,  out  of  character. 
The  desire  for  it  is  proof  either  that  we  never  were 
"  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  our  minds,"  or  that  we 
have  forfeited  the  grace  of  God  and  are  backslidden. 
To  patronize  it,  to  defend  it,  to  advocate  it,  is  to 
take  sides  with  the  world  against  Christ.  Nobody 
ever  knew  a  vei~y  religious  person  to  engage  in  it.- 
The  fear  and  love  of  God,  a  life  of  prayer  and  holy 
communion,  the  joy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  rule  out 
this  vanity! 

I  confess  I  have  no  patience  with  it,  no  toleration 
of  it.  I  think  it  is  the  silliest,  the  most  nonsensical 
amusement,  that  rational  beings,  so  called,  ever  en- 
gaged in.  It  is  heathenish  in  its  origin — a  pastime 
of  savages — is  a  part  of  idolatrous  worship — lewd, 
sensual,  obscene.  This  is  its  history.  It  appeals 
to  the  lowest  instincts  of  humanity,  and  is  the 
chosen  sport  of  the  vilest  and  most  imbruted  of  our 
race.  The  slum  of  society  everywhere  revel  in  it. 
Rowdies  and  prostitutes  —  these  are  its  patrons. 
It  is  wicked,  vile  in  its  origin,  yet  worse  in  its  lower 
associations,  and  worst  of  all  in  its  last  analysis.  It 
has  been  refined,  polished,  I  grant,  but  it  cannot  be 
dignified  nor  elevated.  The  venom  of  the  serpent 
is  in  it.  The  taint  of  its  birth,  the  virus  of  its  con- 
stitution, is  ineradicable.  It  is  evil,  only  evil,  and 
that  continuallv. 


THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH.          19 

No  one  claims  for  it  a  place  among  the  agencies 
for  promoting  piety.  No  one  has  ever  been  made 
better  by  it.  It  is  not  so  designed  or  expected.  It 
is  a  carnal  enjoyment,  simple  and  uncompounded. 
The  public  estimate  of  the  moral  character  of  all 
Church-members  who  indulge  in  it  is  lowered.  Take 
any  man  noted  for  his  piety,  any  saintly  woman, 
introduce  them  on  the  dancing-floor,  and  let  them 
"  trip  the  light  fantastic  toe" — the  sight  would  be  a 
shock  even  to  the  bad.  Everybody  would  feel  there 
had  been  a  fall,  a  sad  eclipse  of  consistency,  a  dis- 
graceful betrayal  of  the  Church  and  Christianity. 
For  some  people  to  do  this  would  excite  no  surprise 
—  nothing  better  was  expected  of  them  ;  but  for 
those  of  real  Christian  reputation  to  mingle  in  these 
follies  would  be,  not  only  in  the  Church,  but  among 
decent  sinners,  a  cause  of  sorrow,  regret,  and  shame. 
The  well-nigh  universal  feeling  would  be  that  relig- 
ion had  been  discounted,  and  the  world  damaged  by 
the  Church. 

There  is  nothing  intellectual  about  it  to  redeem  it. 
A  dog,  an  elephant,  a  monkey,  can  learn  it.  The 
fact  is,  take  away  the  glamour  of  fashion  and  the 
countenance  which  men  and  women  of  culture  give 
it,  the  whole  thing  would  be  contemptible,  and 
would  fall  into  desuetude  in  all  respectable  societ}'. 
It  is  humiliating  that  our  weddings,  dinners,  sup- 
pers, picnics,  levees,  entertainments  for  friends  and 
visitors,  are  all  degraded  by  this  pagan,  idolatrous, 
barbarian  pastime.  It  is  a  reflection  upon  the  in- 
telligence of  our  friends,  as  if  they  could  not  be  in- 
terested without  this  childish  accompaniment;  and 


20  THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

upon  our  own,  as  if  we  could  not  be  polite  and  en- 
tertaining without  a,  "hop."  What  a  name  for  an 
adult  amusement!  Come,  now,  we  have  exhausted 
refreshments  for  the  body,  and  the  topics  for  thought 
and  talk,  let  us  be  children,  play  the  fool,  and  "  hop." 
Angels  of  heaven,  turn  your  eyes  away !  Alas,  to 
think  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  represented  on 
these  occasions!  Inconsistency  is  the  softest  word 
the  truth  allows  in  speaking  of  this  shameful  treat- 
ment of  a  holy  profession. 

It  is  to  be  admitted  that  there  are  differences  as 
to  time,  place,  and  company.  I  am  told  there  is  a 
difference  (as  the  names  imply)  between  square  and 
round  dances.  The  proprieties  are  comparative. 
So  also  between  the  simple  cotillon  and  the  intri- 
cate and  voluptuous  waltz,  between  parlor-dancing 
and  the  masquerade-ball.  But  the  truth  is,  they  are 
all  related — blood-kin.  The  family  is  one.  Private 
dancing  is  the  prelude  and  preparation  for  public 
dancing.  The  simple  leads  to  the  complex,  and  the 
delicate  to  the  gross.  The  passion  grows  by  indul- 
gence. For  this  reason  I  include  those  Christian 
parents  who  teach  their  children  to  dance  in  the 
same  condemnation  with  the  more  oj>en  transgress- 
ors who  misrepresent  their  Master,  outrage  the 
moral  sentiment  of  the  Church,  and  herd  promiscu- 
ously with  the  world  of  the  ungodly.  The  knowl- 
edge of  the  art  involves  the  temptation  to  practice 
it.  Indeed,  this  schooling  is  a  preparation  for  it — 
"  a  provision  for  the  flesh  to  fulfill  the  lusts  thereof." 
The  girl  whose  agility  and  grace  is  admired  in  the 
circle  of  private  friends  will  long  to  display  her 


THE    WORLD   IN    THE   CHURCH.  21 

charming  accomplishment  on  a  more  public  arena. 
Would  a  thoughtful  parent  commit  the  manners 
and  the  morals  of  his  children  to  some  strolling, 
transient  master  of  mazes  and  positions,  if  he  did  not 
desire  and  intend  them  to  shine  with  eclat  in  the  giddy 
throng  of  the  vain,  the  frivolous,  and  the  worldly? 
Expecting  them  to  love  the  world,  they  insure  this 
morally  disastrous  result  by  training,  physical  en- 
dowment, and  mental  association.  The  friendship 
of  the  world  is  too  precious  a  boon  to  be  foregone, 
although  the  price  of  it  be  the  loss  of  divine  favor, 
and  the  end  of  it  enmity  to  God.  "  For  whosoever 
will  be  the  friend  of  the  world  is  the  enemy  of 
God." 

Now,  bearing  in  mind  that  the  Church  stands  re- 
lated to  Christ  as  the  spouse  to  her  husband,  what 
shall  we  say  of  the  license  and  freedom  with  which 
so  many  members  fondle  the  world?  How  indeli- 
cate! How  suspicious!  What  occasion  for  sneer, 
and  criticism,  and  damaging  rumor!  As  the  wife, 
by  the  wantonness  of  her  behavior,  reproaches  her 
husband,  and  smirks  herself  even  when  she  has  not 
descended  to  positive  infidelity,  so  these  loose  mem- 
bers discount  religion,  and  mar  Christian  fellowship. 
When  they  joined  the  Church,  they  promised  "to 
renounce  the  devil  and  all  his  works,  the  vain  pomp 
and  glory  of  the  world,  so  that  they  would  not  fol- 
low or  be  led  by  them."  Into  this  solemn  covenant 
they  entered  voluntarily,  understandingly.  It  was 
an  oath  in  substance,  binding  the  conscience.  They 
accepted  the  pledge  and  promise,  and  enrolled  them- 
selves as  disciples.  In  the  sight  of  God  and  in  the 


22          THE  WORLD  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

presence  of  witnesses  the  betrothal  was  made,  the 
formula  having  sacramental  force  and  sanctity. 
"O  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched  you,  that 
ye  should  not  obey  the  truth,"  fulfill  your  obliga- 
tions, redeem  your  promise?  These  world-courting, 
pleasure-seeking  professors  of  religion,  who  esteem 
the  favor,  friendship,  and  praise  of  men  above  fidel- 
ity to  Christ,  are  in  a  fearful  dilemma.  If,  when 
they  took  these  holy  vows  before  God  and  his  peo- 
ple, they  were  insincere,  then  they  deceived  the 
Church,  played  the  hypocrite,  lied  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Their  sin  is  aggravated — their  very  profes-  • 
sion  is  a  falsehood.  If  they  were  honest — meant 
what  they  said — then  their  friendship  with  the  world 
is  perfidy  to  Christ.  They  have  denied  their  Lord 
and  Master,  and  gone  into  indiscreet,  unchaste  alli- 
ance with  his  enemies. 

The  moral  character  of  all  the  compliances  and 
associations  which  the  text  and  the  sermon  con- 
demn is  determined  by  the  fact  that  they  who  go 
into  them  intended  to  court  the  world,  to  gratify 
the  flesh,  to  conform  to  fashionable  society.  They 
did  not  design  to  honor  Christ,  to  glorify  God,  to 
promote  their  own  salvation.  These  things  were 
not  in  all  their  thoughts.  Their  motives  were  sec- 
ular and  selfish,  their  policy  carnal.  They  consent- 
ed to  grieve  the  Spirit,  sacrifice  their  honest  doubts, 
break  over  the  rules  of  the  Church,  to  please  un- 
godly friends,  and  to  indulge  "the  lust  of  the  flesh, 
and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life."  These 
things  cannot  be  defended,  and  ought  not  to  be  tol- 
erated. No  use  to  argue  or  deny — they  are  iucon- 


THE  WORLD  IX  THE  CHURCH.  23 

sistent,  unscriptural,  and  corrupting.  ]S[o  Christian 
society  can  long  survive  their  allowance.  In  pro- 
phetic imagery,  the  earth  will  swallow  the  woman 
instead  of  the  flood,  and  the  tide  of  ungodliness 
will  sweep  on,  burying  the  hopes  of  the  good,  and 
bearing  the  world  farther  from  God  and  salvation. 
O  Church  of  the  living  God,  "come  out  from 
among  them — be  separate,"  and  singular — the  chil- 
dren of  God  without  rebuke,  in  the  midst  of  a 
crooked  and  perverse  generation! 


II. 

THE  FIRST  AND  THE  LAST. 

BY  BISHOP  WIGHTMAN. 

"And  he  said  unto  me,  Fear  not;  I  am  the  first  and  the 
last;  he  that  liveth,  and  was  dead,  and  behold,  I  am  alive  for- 
evermore,  Amen;  and  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death." 
Eev.  i.  17,  18. 

IT  is  a  wonderful  thought  how  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
supreme  glory  of  the  universe — "  the  first  and  the 
last;  "  how  he  is  the  ground  and  motive  of  all  duty, 
in  all  relations,  in  all  offices  of  life;  the  meritorious, 
procuring  cause  of  every  blessing;  the  bond  of  con- 
nection between  the  unseen,  eternal  Father,  and  the 
spirit  of  man  ;  "  made  unto  us  wisdom,  righteous- 
ness, sanctification,  and  redemption" — in  a  word, 
"  all  in  all." 

In  the  gospel  which  affirms  all  this  there  is  no 
hesitation  in  the  statement,  at  the  same  time  of  the 
fact,  that  He  who  came  in  the  fullness  of  the  time  to 
his  own  nation  was  not  received  by  his  own  people, 
was  rejected  as  their  Messiah,  was  condemned  in 
the  presence  of  the  representative  of  the  Roman 
power,  and  crucified  as  a  malefactor.  These  won- 
derfully contrasted  statements  are  both  made  with 
pronounced  and  equal  distinctness.  They  involve 
in  the  person  of  Christ  a  dual  nature — the  divine 
sind  the  human;  they  ground  fundamentally  in  the 

(24) 


THE  REV.  BISHOP  W.  M.  WIGHTMAN,  D.D., 

Of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 


THE    FIRST    AND    THE    LAST.  25 

unfathomable  mystery  of  the  threefold  unity  of  the 
Godhead.  The  Father  sends  the  Son  ;  the  Son,  co- 
eternal  with  the  Father,  becomes  incarnate,  and  is 
invested  with  the  office  of  Mediator;  the  Spirit, 
proceeding  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  is  the  effi- 
cient cause  of  all  gracious,  spiritual  changes,  "the 
Lord,  the  giver  of  life." 

Representations  such  as  these  had  been  made  in 
verbal  statement.  They  were  illustrated  in  a  Chris- 
tophany — a  glorious,  transcendent  manifestation  to 
the  beloved  disciple  John,  in  the  Isle  of  Patmos. 
That  disciple  had  often  reclined  on  the  bosom  of 
his  Master;  was  the  one  whom  Jesus  loved,  by  em- 
inence, and  had  been  for  forty  years  an  apostle. 
Now  when  that  same  Master  speaks  in  person  once 
more  to  John,  and  John  beholds  the  glorified,  di- 
vine-human, Lord  Christ;  sees  him  as  Stephen  saw 
him,  as  Paul  saw  him — not  in  visions  of  the  night, 
or  in  day-dreams,  but  directly,  distinctly,  unmis- 
takably; heard  his  voice  speaking  human  words; 
-recognized  his  identity — the  occasion  is  as  awful  as 
it  is  glorious.  He  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  tem- 
plar-scene. Symbolical  investitures  surround  him. 
There  are  the  seven  golden  candlesticks.  He  is 
clad  with  priestly  and  kingly  garments  of  resplen- 
dent white,  cinctured  with  a  golden  girdle.  A  daz- 
zling brightness  shines  around  his  head;  his  eyes 
flame  with  the  divine  holiness;  his  feet  are  lustrous 
as  molten  brass ;  his  voice  is  as  the  sound  of  many 
waters;  his  countenance  is  as  the  sun  in  its  utmost 
power  of  light.  When  an  appearance  of  this  sort, 
the  manifestation  of  Christ  in  his  glory,  broke  upon 


26  THE    FIRST    AND    THE    LAST. 

the  apostle's  startled  vision,  he  fell  at  his  Master's 
feet  as  dead.  That  Master  lays  his  right -hand 
on  his  prostrate  servant,  and  utters  the  words  of 
the  text,  the  most  sublime  of  all  the  words  ever 
spoken  by  him — words  that  grasp  eternities,  solve 
the  awful  mystery  of  the  divine  government,  so  far 
as  man's  history  and  destiny  are  concerned,  and 
claim  authority  paramount,  unalterable,  universal: 
"Fear  not;  I  am  the  first  and  the  last;  he  that  liv- 
eth,  and  was  dead,  and  behold,  I  am  alive  forever- 
more,  Amen;  and  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of 
death." 

There  are  several  instructive  lessons  here  pre- 
sented for  our  consideration : 

1.  It  might  be  remarked  that  this  is  the  only  man- 
ifestation of  the  kind  made  to  the  beloved  apostle. 
Before  the  crucifixion  he,  with  Peter  and  James, 
had  been  permitted  to  see  the  transfiguration  of 
their  Lord  and  Master.  On  Hermon,  in  the  night, 
the  form  of  Christ  shone  in  dazzling  glory.  Out  of 
the  radiance  a  voice  said,  "This  is  my  beloved  Son; 
hear  him."  This  wonderful  scene  belonged  to  the 
time  of  the  Saviour's  sojourn  on  earth.  In  the  man- 
ifestation before  us  it  is  the  risen,  glorified  Lord, 
the  Eternal,  Living  One,  who  breaks  with  majestic 
radiance  from  the  dread  secrecy  of  the  world  of 
spirits.  Why,  it  might  be  asked,  have  appearances 
such  as  this  been  so  rare?  Why  does  the  gospel 
satisfy  itself  with  sufficiency  of  evidence,  while  its 
Author  might,  if  he  saw  fit,  shake  the  earth  and 
cry  aloud  to  the  nations  in  a  voice  louder  than  ten 
thousand  thunders? 


THE    FIRST    AND    THE    LAST.  27 

"We  might  safely  reply,  leaving  out  the  grand  con- 
sideration of  man's  responsibility,  which  is  most 
carefully  guarded  in  the  administration  of  God's 
government  in  grace,  that  the  momentous  ques- 
tions and  concerns  of  spiritual  religion  connect 
themselves  mainly  with  the  conscience  and  the  will, 
in  the  daily  experiences  of  life — that  is,  with  those 
elements  of  our  nature  which  are  moral,  rather  than 
with  the  mere  sesthetical.  The  imagination  holds  a 
very  subordinate  part  in  the  whole  affair.  On  rare 
occasions  the  mind  may  be  awed,  excited,  moved, 
by  the  grandeur  of  supernatural  appearances;  yet 
the  great  and  absorbing  interest  we  have  in  the  gos- 
pel is  of  another  kind.  The  supreme  questions  are, 
How  can  sin  be  pardoned?  how  can  reconciliation 
with  a  holy  God  be  secured?  how  may  the  media- 
tion of  Christ  be  made  available,  and  peace  of  mind, 
rectitude,  holiness  of  heart,  and  joyous  obedience, 
become  dominant  and  habitual  ?  The  fervors  of  a 
high-wrought  imagination  are  one  thing;  quite  an- 
other is  the  play  of  the  genuinely  devout  affections. 
You  may  turn  the  worship  of  God  into  a  magnificent 
dramatic  exhibition,  until  the  elements  of  scenic 
effect  shall  produce  a  spectacle  transcending  far  the 
most  splendid  shows  of  the  old  Greek  and  Roman 
idol-worship.  It  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  how 
the  imagination  would  be  excited  to  the  damage  of 
the  moral  sentiments  and  principles,  had  grand  spec- 
tacular displays  been  the  rule,  instead  of  the  rare 
exception,  in  that  dispensation  of  grace  which  is  to 
authenticate  the  maxims  of  eternal  wisdom  and  vin- 
dicate the  righteous  government  of  God,  while  it 


28  THE   FIRST   AND    THE    LAST. 

offers  salvation  to  penitent  sinners  believing  on  the 
Son  of  God.  In  the  place  of  material  images,  pro- 
ducing impressions  of  beauty,  terror,  or  sublimity, 
moral  emotions,  ideas  of  good  and  evil,  of  penitence 
and  trust,  of  righteousness  and  true  holiness,  flow 
from  the  central  facts  of  the  Christian  Revelation. 
Its  voice  is,  "  Say  not  in  thine  heart  who  shall  ascend 
into  heaven,  that  is  to  bring  Christ  down  from  above; 
or  who  shall  descend  into  the  deep,  that  is  to  bring 
Christ  again  from  the  dead.  But  what  saith  it? 
The  word  is  nigh  thee,  even  in  thy  mouth  and  in 
thy  heart,  that  is  the  word  of  faith  which  we  preach." 

2.  Behold  in  the  words  of  Christ  spoken  on  this 
occasion  a  summary  of  the  gospel  for  all  time  and 
all  men. 

"  I  am  the  first  and  the  last,  and  the  living  One." 
Here  he  asserts  his  supremacy  and  his  eternal  ex- 
istence as  the  Son  of  God.  In  the  days  of  his  flesh 
he  had  said  to  the  Jews,  "  Before  Abraham  was  1 
Am."  In  his  prayer  to  the  Father  he  spoke  of  the 
glory  he  had  with  him  "  before  the  world  was." 
Now  the  declaration  in  the  text,  "  I  am  the  living 
One,"  sets  forth  his  claim  to  be  the  living  God  from 
all  eternity.  His  eternal  existence  is  the  root  and 
foundation  of  his  power  to  save  to  the  uttermost, 
to  give  life,  to  raise  from  the  dead,  to  confer  the 
boon  of  everlasting  life  in  the  world  to  come.  Here 
we  have  the  solid  basis  of  redemption. 

But  this  living  One  became  incarnate  in  Jesus. 
He  took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels,  but  the 
substantial  nature  of  humanity.  He  thus  became 
the  Second  Adam.  In  this  human  personality  he 


THE    FIRST    AND    THE    LAST.  29 

"tasted  death  for  every  man."  The  death  was  a 
real  separation  of  soul  and  body — not  an  ideal  or 
imaginary  one.  The  lance  of  the  Roman  soldier 
pierced  his  heart.  This  death  was  sacrificial.  "He 
gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all."  "  He  suffered,  the 
Just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God." 
"  Through  the  eternal  Spirit  he  offered  himself  to 
God."  This  death  was  an  atonement,  an  expiation 
for  that  essential  element  in  sin,  guilt.  Remorse  of 
conscience  testifies  to  the  vital  relation  of  sin  to 
law  and  justice,  and  the  sacrificial  expiation  made 
by  the  death  of  the  Mediator  is  the  sole  objective 
ground  on  which  the  subjective  wants  of  a  soul  con- 
scious of  guilt  can  rest  for  satisfaction.  A  provision 
for  spiritual  and  entire  sanctification  is  necessary  in 
its  place,  but,  in  the  order  of  the  plan  of  salvation, 
atonement  for  guilt  is  first  provided  for.  Hence 
alone  can  come  peace  of  conscience  and  reconcilia- 
tion writh  God.  It  will  remain  eternally  true  that 
"  when  we  were  enemies  we  were  reconciled  to  God 
by  the  death  of  his  Son."  "We  have  boldness  to 
enter  into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus." 

I  "  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death."  In  the 
tone  of  absolute  authority  Christ  proclaims  that  he 
has  obtained  the  government,  and  taken  possession 
of  earth,  the  under-world,  and  heaven.  Of  these  he 
holds  the  keys,  and  maintains  the  dominion.  So 
that,  according  to  St.  Paul's  view  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Philippians,  he  receives  the  homage  of  "things 
in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things  under 
the  earth ;  "  of  disembodied  spirits,  departed,  blessed 
saints,  and  of  infernal  spirits  in  the  seats  of  de- 


30  THE    FIRST    AND    THE    LAST. 

struction,  after  he  had  "spoiled  principalities  and 
powers,  making  a  show  of  them  openly,"  triumph- 
ing over  them  by  their  defeat  and  overthrow,  and 
stripping  them  of  their  power  of  injuring  those 
who  believe  in  him,  and  bruising  the  head  of  Satan 
as  the  earnest  of  the  world's  final  deliverance  from 
the  powers  of  darkness. 

O  Christian  soul,  is  this  th}T  Saviour?  Canst  thou 
fear  the  grave,  or  dread  the  state  of  separate  spir- 
its? When  thy  last  moment  comes,  and  thou  must 
depart,  is  it  true  that  thy  Christ  is  Lord  of  every 
part  of  the  universe?  Then,  if  we  are  Christ's,  all 
is  ours!  We  are  in  the  dominions  of  our  Sover- 
eign. The  ensign  of  his  authority  wTaves  over  sea 
and  shore,  over  planetary  systems  and  solar  uni- 
verses. Take  courage.  He  has  closed  the  gates  of 
the  under -world  paradise  for  his  faithful  follow- 
ers, and  to  die  now  is  to  depart  and  be  with  him. 
At  his  ascension  he  "  led  captivity  captive."  Myr- 
iads of  angels  did  homage  to  him,  and  in  his  tri- 
umphal train  the  spirits  of  the  just,  who  in  joy  and 
felicity  had  long  waited  in  the  under-world  paradise 
for  their  deliverance,  formed  in  long  procession  and 
went  up  to  the  upper  paradise,  where  they  are  ever 
present  with  the  Lord. 

3.  "Behold,  I  am  alive  forevermore,  Amen." 
The  resurrection  of  Christ  forms  the  central  point 
of  the  world's  history.  Here  is  indeed  the  palin- 
genesia. 

This  is  the  starting-point  of  the  career  of  Chris- 
tianity. Think  you  that  such  a  religion  as  it  was, 
whose  purity  was  opposed  by  the  shameless  vice  of 


THE    FIRST    AND    THE    LAST.  31 

that  time,  by  the  thousand  deadly  fascinations  of 
false  religions,  whose  very  worship  was  abomina- 
tion; a  religion  which  pretended  to  no  resources  of 
learning,  wealth,  power,  or  influence;  which  had 
neither  s\"nagogue  nor  sword ;  claimed  no  philoso- 
pher, poet,  or  orator  for  its  champion,  no  prince  or 
potentate  as  its  patron — could  such  a  religion  as 
this  have  made  its  way  in  an  historic  age  of  the 
world,  in  the  face  of  the  three  great  civilizations  of 
that  time,  unless  it  had  been  able  to  proclaim  with 
tongues  of  fire,  in  words  that  moved  like  the  tread 
of  armed  battalions,  that  Christ  Jesus,  the  Son  of 
David  and  David's  Lord,  the  Son  of  the  living  God, 
had  died  for  man's  redemption,  was  buried  in  Jo- 
seph's sepulcher,  had  risen  from  the  dead  the  third 
day?  For  the  firm,  constant,  and  triumphant  proc- 
lamation of  the  resurrection,  of  which  they  were 
witnesses,  by  the  apostles,  there  was  their  own  con- 
viction grounded  on  the  strongest,  most  indubitable 
evidence.  In  the  case,  for  instance,  of  St.  Paul, 
^nothing  short  of  absolute  certainty  that  the  Jesus 
whom  he  once  persecuted  was  alive  again,  the  Con- 
queror of  death,  the  glorified  Son  of  God,  and  the 
Lord  of  all,  could  have  arrested  the  persecutor,  and 
bound  him  over,  with  passionate  devotion  and  tri- 
umphant confidence,  to  a  life-long  service.  His  let- 
ters are  in  our  hands.  They  abound  in  indications 
of  the  honest,  affectionate,  intrepid,  and  virtuous 
mind  of  the  writer.  They  show  a  fine  vigor  of 
style,  a  knowledge  of  affairs,  a  sincere  piety  with- 
out hypocrisy  or  extravagance,  and  a  hearty  good- 
will toward  men.  Is  the  fact  of  Christ's  resurrec- 


32  THE    FIRST   AND    THE    LAST. 

tion  ever  referred  to  in  these  Epistles?  The  world 
has  known  for  eighteen  centuries  in  what  terms, 
with  what  emphasis,  how  often  directly,  how  con- 
stantly, indirectly  taken  for  granted,  this  all-impor- 
tant fact  is  mentioned  in  these  writings.  While 
they  are  in  existence,  ample  information,  exact, 
trustworthy,  "  fraught  with  the  very  soul  of  his- 
tory," is  in  our  hands,  both  as  to  the  nature  and 
the  original  promulgation  of  Christianity.  In  re- 
spect to  recorded  matters  of  history,  the  lapse  of 
time  makes  no  abatement  in  the  force  of  the  evi- 
dence. It  has  been  well  and  finely  said  that  "  pil-. 
lars  of  marble  decay,  and  monuments  of  brass  de- 
cay; the  Egyptian  pyramids  are  crumbling  into 
dust;  the  earth  itself  wanes,  and  the  heavens  wax 
old  as  doth  a  garment ;  but  written  testimony  endures 
from  age  to  age,  and  knows  no  change;  and  so  long 
as  reason  is  the  guide  of  man,  whatever  is  estab- 
lished by  that  testimony  holds  an  undecaying  au- 
thority over  his  belief."  And  in  respect  to  this 
central,  fundamental,  vital  fact  of  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion, no  middle  position  can  be  maintained.  No 
vague  neutrality  is  admissible.  The  fact  is  absolute- 
ly true,  and  in  accepting  it  we  own  the  authority 
of  Christ's  mission  and  doctrine;  or  it  is  wholly 
false,  and  in  denying  it  we  take  position  with  unbe- 
lievers, and  may  be  classed  with  those  who  love 
their  infatuations  better  than  themselves.  In  deny- 
ing Christ's  resurrection  we  deny  the  personal  union 
of  the  divine  and  human  in  him.  Denying  this, 
with  the  person  of  Christ  would  be  abolished  Chris- 
tian testimony  and  truth,  and  the  Christian  Church 


THE   FIRST    AND   THE    LAST.  33 

altogether.  "But  now  is  Christ  risen  from  the 
dead."  The  faith  in  this  glorious  fact,  "  old  arid 
ever  young,"  has  outlived  all  attacks,  and  is  now 
stronger  than  ever,  the  only  refuge  of  a  sinful 
world. 

4.  In  fine,  we  have  in  the  text  the  assurance  that 
as  Christ  is  eternally  linked  to  the  fortunes  of  the 
race  he  died  to  redeem,  so  the  august  powers  of  an 
"  endless  life  "  are  now  and  shall  forever  be  engaged 
in  the  work  of  completing  and  eternally  perpetuat- 
ing the  salvation  of  his  people.  "  For  if  when  we 
were  enemies  " — such  is  St.  Paul's  argument — "  we 
were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son, 
much  more  being  reconciled  we  shall  be  saved  by 
his  life." 

He  is  alive  forevermore,  to  consummate  his  re- 
deeming work  through  all  the  ages  of  the  world's 
future. 

See  this  in  the  fact  that  he  is  present  as  glori- 
fied Mediator,  in  all  the  assemblies  of  his  people, 
according  to  his  own  promise,  "  Where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there 
am  I  in  the  midst."  How  high  the  honor,  how 
unspeakable  the  privilege,  to  have  Christ's  spirit- 
ual presence  wherever  his  people  meet  for  prayer 
or  praise! 

Besides,  every  true  and  faithful  minister  of  the 
gospel  has  his  cooperation — that  of  a  present  and 
almighty  Saviour.  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  "  So,  then,  nei- 
ther is  he  that  planteth  any  thing,  nor  he  that 
watereth,  but  God  that  giveth  the  increase."  All 
2* 


34  THE   FIRST   AND   THE    LAST. 

the  ability  employed  in  planting  the  seed,  and  in  its 
after-culture,  is  from  the  Lord,  on  whose  blessing 
depends  all  success.  His  is  the  gift  of  the  Para- 
clete, the  Comforter,  who  is  to  abide  with  the  Church 
forever. 

But  specially  is  he  "the  merciful  and  faithful 
High-priest,"  "  who  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession 
for  us."  This  intercession  grounds  on  the  propitia- 
tory sacrifice  which  made  atonement  for  the  sins  of 
the  world,  and  opened  a  fountain  for  sin  and  un- 
cleanuess.  Being  both  the  Victim  and  the  Offerer, 
the  Mediator  now  in  heaven  holds  forever  the  office, 
of  intercessor;  and  his  ministry  in  heaven  must  be 
conceived  of  as  embracing  a  clear  and  comprehen- 
sive view  of  the  wants  of  his  people;  a  perfect  sym- 
pathy, tenderer  and  more  influential  as  their  neces- 
sities deepen  and  demand  his  help  in  time  of  need; 
and  intercessions,  "each  a  distinct  and  separate  act 
of  his  pleading  will  in  their  behalf,"  before  the  Fa- 
ther. How  ample,  then,  is  the  provision  made  in 
the  plan  of  redemption  to  meet  the  full  extent  of 
human  guilt,  spiritual  pollution,  infirmities,  and 
responsibilities!  How  profound  the  adaptations  of 
this  scheme  of  heavenly  mercy  to  an  immortal  spirit 
longing  after  the  attainment  of  perfect  purity, 
universal  holiness,  and  a  blameless  and  useful  life! 
Why,  then,  should  we  not  have  "boldness  to  enter 
into  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Jesus?"  "Why 
should  not  our  devotions  rise  to  higher  and  holier 
ardor,  and  fill  the  soul  with  richer  joys,  and  lead 
up  our  spirits  to  ^their  perfection  of  purity  and 
growth  ?  These  provisions  and  adaptations,  so  lofty 


THE   FIRST    AND   THE   LAST.  35 

and  yet  so  lowly,  so  solid  and  so  universal,  sublime 
as  the  height  of  heaven,  and  yet  suited  to  all  our 
earthly  needs — ought  they  not  to  warrant  "the  full 
assurance  of  faith?"  that  faith  which  brings  the 
soul  into  the  clear  light  shining  from  afar  on  the  ta- 
ble lands  that  rise  into  the  cloudless  azure — Pisgah- 
summits  whence  Hope  sees  the  promised  land,  and 
hears  the  echoes  of  its  angel-minstrelsy? 

But  not  thus  alone  is  the  Mediator  occupied  in 
the  hallowed  courts  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary;  he 
appears  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us  as  Leader  of 
his  people.  "Father,  I  will  that  those  whom  thou 
hast  given  me  shall  be  with  me  to  behold  my  glory." 
The  Precursor  has  entered  heaven  before  his  follow- 
ers, "the  Forerunner"  has  gone  home  to  make  ev- 
ery thing  read}^  for  their  glad  reception.  Ah!  shall 
we  not  be  able  to  cry,  as  the  light  of  this  mortal  life 
fades  from  our  darkening  eyes,  "  Thou  wilt  show 
me  the  path  of  life!"  Yes,  light  from  the  shining 
gates  breaks  in;  on  the  air  is  heard  the  rustle  of 
angel-wings;  lo,  the  prison-walls  are  giving  way — 
"  rise,  let  us  go!"  Were  this  matter  of  speculation 
only,  it  would  deserve  to  be  pronounced  the  sub- 
lirnest  ever  opened  to  the  vision  of  the  human  im- 
agination. But  when  we  consider  that  the  risen 
Jesus,  the  victorious  Redeemer,  the  Captain  of  our 
salvation,  was  seen  by  his  followers  to  pass  through 
the  skies  in  his  human  body  glorified;  when  we 
are  sure  that  he  is  in  the  heavenly  places  with  the 
Father,  and  lives  forevermore,  in  majesty  divine, 
clothed  with  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth,  and 
from  the  summit  of  glory  and  bliss  eternal  calls 


36  THE    FIRST    AND    THE    LAST. 

us  to  follow  him  without  fear,  then  we  may  confi- 
dently affirm  that,  not  as  a  lofty  speculation,  but 
as  a  solid,  stupendous  fact,  it  has  no  rival  in  hu- 
man experience.  And  in  faith's  grasp  of  this  fact, 
that  our  Christ  is  the  eternal,  "living  One,"  who 
holds  the  keys  of  all  dominion,  lies  the  power  of 
the  organized  Christianity  of  our  time  to  conquer 
the  world. 

You  who  feel  the  throb  of  immortal  aspiration, 
and  hold  heirship  in  the  "  power  of  an  endless  life; " 
who  sometimes  tremble  in  the  anticipation  of  possi- 
ble events,  now  hidden  in  the  abysses  of  an  incon-- 
ceivable  infinite;  who  wonder  if  the  "eternal  life" 
shall  never  ebb  in  its  divine  course,  never  falter  in 
its  victorious  power,  never  lose  the  virgin  freshness 
of  its  opening  morning,  take  courage.  This  life, 
which  was  originally  manifested  in  Christ,  and  com- 
municated by  him,  is  irrevocably  vested  in  him  as 
the  eternal  Son.  He  says,  "  I  am  alive  forevermore, 
Amen;  and  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death." 
The  new,  heavenly,  immortal  existence,  on  which 
you  shall  presently  enter,  has  the  guarantee  of  his 
own  deathless  life  and  power.  And  in  that  realm 
of  eternal  life  and  love  "  there  shall  be  no  more 
curse;  but  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb  shall 
be  in  it;  and  his  servants  shall  serve  him,  and  they 
shall  see  his  face,  and  his  name  shall  be  in  their 
foreheads."  Amen!  So  it  is;  so  let  it  be  forever. 
Amen!  Let  the  ages,  as  they  roll  on  to  join  the 
congregations  of  the  mighty  past,  do  homage  to 
Him  whose  years  fail  not,  who  is  "alive  forever- 
more."  Let  them  send  on  the  echoing  Amen  to 


THE    FIRST    AND    THE    LAST.  37 

Time's  last  hour.  Let  "  every  creature  which  is  in 
heaven  and  on  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  and  such 
as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  say,  Bless- 
ing, and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power,  be  unto  him 
that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for- 
ever and  ever."  Amen  and  amen! 


III. 

JOY  IN  HEAVEN  OVER  PENITENT 
SINNERS. 

BY  THE  REV.  EDWARD  WADSWORTH,  A.M.,  D.D., 

Alabama  Conference. 

"I  say  unto  you,  that  likewise  joy  shall  be  in  heaven  over 
one  sinner  that  repenteth,  more  than  over  ninety  and  nine 
just  persons,  which  need  no  repentance."  Luke  xv.  7. 

THE  Bible  depicts  human  character  descriptively. 
When  we  find  our  own  persons  described  by  marks 
which  we  recognize,  then  we  may  apply  to  our- 
selves whatever  is  mentioned  as  pertaining  to  those 
described.  This  may  consist  of  blessings  or  judg- 
ment. In  these  descriptions  the  inspired  word  is 
specific  and  clear. 

In  the  text  we  have  two  characters  described  by 
terms  which  may  be  accurately  interpreted,  and 
then  we  have  the  two  compared  to  each  other,  and 
an  assertion  of  interest  taken  in  one  of  them  by  the 
inhabitants  of  heaven  which  tills  us  with  wonder 

The  two  characters  mentioned  are,  just  persons 
who  do  not  need  repentance,  and  the  sinner  that 
repents.  The  former  in  this  text  consist  of  ninety 
and  nine;  and  the  latter  consists  of  one,  solitary  and 
alone.  The  assertion  is  made  that  there  is  more  joy 
in  heaven  over  this  one  than  there  is  over  ninety  and 

(38) 


THE  REV.  EDWARD  WADSWORTH,  D.D. 

Ot  the  Alabama  Conference. 


JOY    IN    HEAVEN    OVER    PENITENT    SINNERS.  39 

nine  who  do  not  need  repentance.  This  assertion 
is  truthful.  It  is  very  encouraging  to  penitents. 

We  propose  to  consider:  1.  The  just  persons  who 
do  not  need  repentance;  2.  The  sinner  that  repents; 
3.  The  great  joy  in  heaven  over  the  penitent  sinner. 

I.   The  just  persons  who  do  not  need  repentance. 

The  text,  as  expressed  by  the  infallible  Teacher, 
uses  an  adjective  with  no  noun ;  and  the  translator, 
according  to  usage  which  is  approved  by  all  learned 
critics,  puts  persons  as  the  noun  which  the  adjec- 
tive requires.  Thus  we  have  just  persons.  They 
are  very  numerous  —  "ninety- nine  just  persons." 
In  finding  these,  we  have  a  very  large  field  to  search 
for  them.  Some  are  now  in  glory;  others  are  on 
earth,  on  their  way  to  glory. 

1.  In  this  class  we  put  angels. 

These  are  created  beings,  of  whom  we  find  much 
in  the  word  of  God.  That  they  were  all  in  a  state 
of  probation,  when  first  created,  we  are  well  per- 
suaded, because  some  of  them  fell  from  their  high 
position;  they  "kept  not  their  first  estate,  but  left 
their  own  habitation,"  is  recorded  in  Jude  6. 
Those  who  kept  themselves  pure  during  their  pro- 
bation were  so  numerous  as  to  be  "an  innumerable 
company  of  angels,"  now  in  "the  city  of  the  living 
God."  Heb.  xii.  22.  These  were  present  when 
God  "laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth;"  and  as 
they  looked  on  his  handiwork  "  they  shouted  for 
joy."  Job  xxxviii.  4-7.  We  are  informed  that 
they  constitute  a  hierarchy  in  God's  realm,  and  of 
their  employment  we  have  one  declaration,  which 
is  infallible.  It  is  made  very  strong  by  the  use  of 


40  JOY   IN   HEAVEN   OVER   PENITENT    SINNERS. 

the  figure  of  interrogation :  "Are  they  not  all  min- 
istering spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister  for  them  who 
shall  be  heirs  of  salvation?"  Heb.  i.  14. 

Instances  of  this  wonderful  ministration  are  very 
numerous  in  the  word  of  God.  Lot  was  honored 
by  two  guests,  who  accepted  his  invitation  to  the 
hospitalities  of  his  house  in  Sodom  the  night  before 
God  rained  fire  and  brimstone  upon  that  city. 
These  guests  were  angels  in  the  forms,  or  bodies,  of 
men.  One  of  these  messengers  was  employed  to 
punish  David  for  his  sin  in  numbering  Israel  when 
he  was  warned  of  its  offensiveness ;  and  he  was 
seen  stopping  by  the  threshing-place  of  Araunah, 
the  Jebusite,  and  was  turned  back  from  his  destruc- 
tive mission  by  prayer  and  sacrifice.  Daniel,  in  the 
lions'  den,  was  saved  from  the  ravenous  beasts  by 
the  interposition  of  an  angel,  for  he  said,  in  answer 
to  the  king's  anxious  inquiry,  "0  king,  live  forever! 
my  God  hath  sent  his  angel,  and  hath  shut  the  lions' 
mouths,  that  they  have  not  hurt  me."  Our  blessed 
Lord,  in  the  unutterable  agony  of  the  garden  of 
Gethsemane,  when  he  sweated  great  drops  of  blood, 
and  said,  "Father,  if  thou  be  willing,  remove  this 
cup  from  me;  nevertheless,  not  my  will,  but  thine 
be  done,"  was  visited  by  one  of  these  messengers  in 
his  extremity,  for  Luke  tells  us,  "  There  appeared 
an  angel  unto  him  from  heaven,  strengthening  him." 

These  angels  of  God  never  sinned.  They  never 
had  need  for  repentance.  They  are  persons,  "just 
persons."  From  their  vast  number,  so  great,  that 
Daniel  tells  us,  "Thousand  thousands  ministered 
unto  the  Ancient  of  days,  and  ten  thousand  times 


JOY    IN    HEAVEN    OVER    PENITENT    SINNERS.  41 

ten  thousand  stood  before  him."  Dan.  vii.  10.  We 
select  ninety  and  nine  for  our  purpose,  and  put 
them  in  one  company.  ~VYe  request  you  to  look  at 
them.  They  are  very  lovely  persons.  God  loves 
them,  and  values  them.  His  love  for  them  is  joyful. 

2.  In  this  same  class  we  may  put  disembodied 
spirits  who  are  now  in  glory. 

In  respect  to  these,  we  are  not  left  in  uncertainty 
as  to  their  personality  nor  their  habitation.  Both 
are  made  sure  by  the  word.  Among  the  innumer- 
able company  of  angels,  or  associated  with  them, 
who  have  entered  into  glory,  and  now  enjoy  the 
felicity  of  heaven,  mention  is  made  of  "the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect,  who  are  written  in  heav- 
en." Heb.  xii.  23.  Therein  we  have  not  persons 
only,  but  men — men  made  perfect.  They  were  inhab- 
itants of  this  earth  during  their  probation.  This 
world  was  the  scene  of  their  labors,  their  trials, 
and  their  conquests.  In  this  world  they  heard  the 
gospel,  and  were  awakened  by  it;  and  under  this 
awakening  they  saw  the  light  which  shines  in  a 
dark  place;  and,  guided  by  it,  they  found  their  way 
to  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  experienced  salvation. 
These  have  been  washed  and  made  clean  in  the 
blood  of  Christ.  Fitted  for  heaven  while  they  were 
on  earth,  they  advanced  onward  and  upward,  until 
their  probation  ended,  and  now  they  sit  with  Abra- 
ham, and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  the  company  of 
prophets  and  apostles  in  the  realm  of  glory.  They 
came  into  this  kingdom  by  repentance.  They  re- 
mained in  this  kingdom  by  faithful  obedience. 
They  went  out  of  the  kingdom  of  grace  into  glory. 


42  JOY   IN   HEAVEN   OVER   PENITENT    SINNERS. 

It  is  certain  that,  in  their  present  glorified  state, 
they  are  pure  spirits,  and  do  not  need  repentance. 
Of  their  number  we  have  this  statement  in  Rev.  vii. 
9:  "After  this  I  beheld,  and,  lo,  a  great  multitude, 
which  no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and 
kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the 
throne,  and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white 
robes,  and  palms  4n  their  hands,  crying,  Salvation 
to  our  God  which  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto 
the  Lamb."  Being  among  the  inhabitants  of  heaven, 
many  of  whom  are  called  angels,  God  may  employ 
them  as  messengers  to  minister  to  them  who  are. 
heirs  of  salvation.  Doubtless  they  are  ready  for, 
and  they  rejoice  in,  this  employment. 

3.  In  the  same  class  we  put  righteous  persons 
who  are  adopted  into  the  family  of  God,  and  are 
now  in  the  state  of  probation. 

They  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  are  the 
sons  (or  children)  of  God.  They  have  not  received 
the  spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear,  but  the  Spirit  of 
adoption,  whereby  they  cry,  Abba,  Father.  Rom. 
viii.  15.  The  population  of  the  earth,  from  the 
time  of  Adam  to  the  present  age,  has  always  con- 
sisted of  two  classes — the  saved  and  the  unsaved. 
The  former  were  brought  into  salvation  by  the 
grace  of  God  working  in  them  regeneration,  and 
when  this  is  wrought  in  them  the  Spirit  bears  wit- 
ness with  their  spirits  to  their  adoption.  Evidences 
of  this  are  abundant  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  "Abel 
obtained  witness  that  he  was  righteous,  God  testify- 
ing of  his  gifts."  Enoch  was  translated  to  heaven, 
and  "before  his  translation  he  had  this  testimony, 


JOY    IN    HEAVEN    OVER    PENITENT    SINNERS.  43 

that  he  pleased  God."  Noah  showed  his  faith  by 
preparing  an  "ark  to  the  saving  of  his  household, 
by  which  he  became  heir  of  the  righteousness  which 
is  by  faith."  As  we  come  down  the  ages,  the  number 
of  sinners  saved  by  grace  increases  enormously,  and 
we  are  sure  that  very  many  now  living  are  righteous 
persons,  and  on  their  way  to  heaven.  Having  ob- 
tained forgiveness  through  the  atonement  appro- 
priated by  faith,  and  having  witness  that  they  are 
righteous,  they  do  not  need  repentance  of  the  kind 
described  or  referred  to  in  the  text.  They  remem- 
ber their  sins,  and  the  remembrance  is  grievous 
unto  them.  Being  now  children  of  light,  and  judg- 
ing their  sins  by  the  light  which  is  in  them,  the 
guilt  of  these  sins  is  to  their  vision,  and  in  their 
judgment,  vastly  increased — so  vastly  increased  that 
they  count  themselves  the  chief  of  sinners,  and 
contemplate  with  adoring  wonder  the  grace  which 
stooped  so  low  as  to  reach  them.  But  in  the  midst 
of  this  wonder  there  is  in  them  the  conviction  that 
they  have  passed  out  of  darkness  into  light,  out  of 
bondage  into  liberty,  out  of  condemnation  into  sal- 
vation. 

Out  of  this  immense  crowd  of  sinners  saved  by 
grace — sinners  who  came  with  broken  hearts  and 
contrite  spirits  to  God  —  sinners  who  believed  in 
Christ  with  hearts  unto  righteousness — sinners  whom 
God  honors  by  making  them  witnesses,  his  own 
witnesses — yea,  out  of  this  crowd  we  select  ninety- 
nine  for  our  purpose  in  explaining  and  enforcing 
the  truth  contained  in  the  text.  We  need  them, 
and  shall  use  them  in  making  the  comparison  em- 


44  JOY   IN   HEAVEN   OVER   PENITENT   SINNERS. 

bodied  in  the  text  as  vivid  and  powerful  as  we 
can. 

We  invite  you  to  turn  your  eyes  to  and  consider, 

II.  The  sinner  that  repents. 

In  speaking  or  writing  on  this  person,  we  remind 
you  that  herein  character  is  described,  and  our  at- 
tention should  be  fixed  on  the  points,  or  qualities, 
which  constitute  this  character.  Two  are  men- 
tioned— the  sinner,  and  the  sinner  that  repents. 

1.  A  sinner  is  one  who  has  committed  sin.  This 
is  an  accurate  definition.  It  requires  transgression 
of  the  law  of  God  to  fix  this  characteristic  on  a 
person.  "  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law."  1 
John  iii.  4. 

The  law  is  what  is  called  the  moral  law.  It  is 
contained  in  the  Ten  Commandments.  The  duties 
we  are  to  attend  to,  and  the  evils  we  are  to  shun, 
are  all  condensed  so  rigidly  as  to  be  put  in  the  space 
on  which  Moses,  by  command  of  God,  wrote  the 
Ten  Laws.  Of  these  laws  we  have  commentaries. 
They  are  written  by  inspired  men,,  and  we  rightly 
judge  them  to  be  infallible.  The  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  delivered  by  the  great  Teacher,  and  record- 
ed in  Matthew  v.,  vi.,  and  vii.,  explains  the  Ten 
Commandments.  By  this  sermon  we  learn  that  we 
may  transgress  in  our  hearts,  by  cherishing  evil  pas- 
sions and  wrong  motives,  as  well  as  by  overt  acts. 
In  this  way  the  breadth  or  comprehension  of  law 
may  be  known. 

That  all  are  sinners  can  be  shown  by  proofs. 
Memory  acts  by  retrospection,  and  takes  in  all  our 
actions.  It  acts  independently  of  the  will,  though 


JOY   IN   HEAVEN   OVER   PENITENT   SINNERS.  45 

it  may  be  quickened  into  activity  by  the  will.  We 
speak  truthfully  when  we  say  we  are  forced  to  re- 
member our  actions.  Conscience  judges  the  quality 
of  actions  by  their  conformity  or  opposition  to  law. 
Conscience  acts  independently  of  the  will.  We  are 
forced  to  judge  our  actions.  By  this  process  all 
men  are  convinced  that  they  are  sinners,  because  all 
know  that  they  have  transgressed  law.  Whether 
this  is  felt  as  a  heavy  burden  or  not,  it  is  felt  as  a 
fact,  and  it  is  a  fact  whose  reality  is  permanent. 

It  is  terrible  to  any  thoughtful  man  to  know  that 
he  is  a  sinner,  for  every  sinner  must  be  punished  or 
pardoned.  And  in  God's  government  forgiveness 
is  not  arbitrary,  but  judicial.  It  is  granted  not  above 
law,  nor  contrary  to  law,  but  consistently  with  law. 
The  only  relief  to  the  sinner  is  found  in  this:  "It 
is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sin- 
ners." 1  Tim.  i.  15.  By  this  wonderful  revelation 
the  terror  of  being  a  sinner  is  much  diminished  by 
the  fact  that  we  are  redeemed  sinners.  Redemption 
embodies  provision  for  salvation.  Appropriation 
of  the  provision  requires  repentance,  and  to  enjoy 
this  each  one  must  be  "  the  sinner  that  repents." 

2.  The  sinner  that  repents  may  be  recognized  by 
all  who  know  the  nature  of  repentance.  To  this 
we  address  ourselves. 

Repentance  is  used  in  the  Scriptures  sometimes 
comprehensively  and  sometimes  accurately.  It 
mingles  with  faith  so  constantly  that  faith  is  never 
genuine  and  saving  unless  it  is  preceded  by  repent- 
ance, and  repentance  never  reaches  its  acme  until  it 


46  JOY   IN    HEAVEN    OVER   PENITENT   SINNERS. 

merges  into  faith.  Many  texts  teach  us  that  faith  is 
essential  to  salvation,  and  many  that  repentance  is  es- 
sential to  salvation.  They  are  harmonized  by  the  fact 
above  stated.  Genuine  repentance  always  leads  to 
the  acknowledgment  of  truth.  There  is  a  distinction 
between  knowing  the  truth  and  acknowledging  the 
truth.  The  latter  comprehends  the  former,  but  the 
former  does  not  comprehend  the  latter.  The  for- 
mer is  the  act  of  the  intellect,  the  latter  is  the  com- 
plex act  of  the  intellect  and  the  will.  One  embraces 
truth,  the  other  uses  it.  All  need  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  enable  them  to  repent.  In  this  essential  work 
God  and  man  must  be  co-workers.  When  the  sin- 
ner submits,  "God  gives  repentance  to  the  acknowl- 
edging of  the  truth,"  and  the  poor  sinner  "  recovers 
from  the  snare  of  the  devil."  2  Tim.  ii.  25,  26. 

Many  awakened  sinners  are  perplexed  and  led 
astray  by  looking  for  repentance  in  the  sensibilities 
chieflj'',  and  judging  their  cases  by  their  feelings. 
Repentance  consists  in  conviction  of  sin  and  sorrow 
for  sin.  These  mental  states  are  perceptible  and 
real.  They  are  felt  and  acknowledged.  At  times 
they  burden  the  mind  and  produce  a  copious  flow 
of  tears,  but  the  tears  relieve  for  a  season,  and  the 
sinner  relapses  into  quietness  which  he  considers 
hardness.  He  tries  to  measure  his  sorrow  as  if  it 
had  dimension,  or  to  weigh  it  as  if  it  had  gravity. 
All  these  efforts  are  fruitless  and  discouraging.  So 
long  as  he  confines  himself  to  the  region  of  the 
sensibilities,  he  wanders  in  shadows  and  darkness. 
If  he  will  change  the  field  of  examination  from  the 
sensibilities  to  the  will,  ho  can  make  progress  in 


JOY  IN   HEAVEN   OVER   PENITENT   SINNERS.  47 

repentance,  or  he  can  judge  his  case  profitably.  Let 
the  question  be,  What  am  I  willing  to  do?  and  not, 
How  much  do  I  feel?  Every  sinner  who  is  perfectly 
willing  to  humble  his  heart,  and  confess  his  sins  to 
God,  has  conviction  enough;  conviction  has  done 
in  him  all  it  can  do — indeed,  all  it  was  sent  to  do. 
And  every  sinner  who  is  perfectly  willing  to  forsake 
all  sin,  and  consecrate  himself  unreservedly  to  God, 
has  sorrow  enough;  sorrow  has  done  in  him  all  it 
can  do— indeed,  all  it  was  sent  to  do. 

The  contest  between  the  flesh  and  the  spirit  is 
carried  on  in  the  region  of  the  will,  and  it  is  some- 
times fearful,  yea,  terribly  severe.  Strong  men  are 
seen  writhing  in  agony.  Dignified  men  sometimes 
bow  themselves  in  congregations,  a-nd  cry  aloud  in 
anguish.  The  scene  is  similar  to  that  described  in 
Mark  ix.  20.  The  battle  is  between  Satan  and  God. 
They  fight  for  an  immortal  soul.  The  victory  al- 
ways turns  on  the  side  which  man's  will  takes.  The 
work  of  repentance  is  perfect  when  the  sinner  will- 
ingly humbles  his  heart,  willingly  renounces  sin, 
willingly  consecrates  himself  to  God,  willingly  trusts 
in  Jesus  Christ  his  Saviour.  When  the  will  acts 
freely  in  trusting  in  Christ,  committal  is  accom- 
plished, and  believing  is  so  easy  that  the  man  won- 
ders that  he  should  have  struggled  so  hard.  Re- 
pentance ever  leads  us  to  trust  in  Jesus  Christ,  and 
trust  is  made  perfect  by  the  action  of  the  will  in 
committing  ourselves,  with  all  our  precious  inter- 
ests, to  Jesus  Christ.  If  we  know  Christ  in  his 
true  character  we  will  commit  all  to  him,  and  then 
our  souls  will  rest  in  consciousness  of  safetv.  Of 


48  JOY   IN    HEAVEN    OVER   PENITENT   SINNERS. 

this  kind  of  experience  Paul  is  a  witness,  as  we  see 
in  2  Tim.  i.  12. 

III.  The  wonderful  assertion  that  over  one  sinner 
that  repents  there  is  in  heaven  more  joy  than  there 
is  over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons  who  do  not 
need  repentance. 

1.  This  is  so  wonderful  as  to  astonish  us,  but  so 
truthful  as  to  command  our  faith — it  is  a  record  of 
fact.  Ninety  and  nine  persons  in  the  state  of  sal- 
vation are  in  one  crowd.  On  them  God  lavishes 
his  love  in  the  twofold  form  of  benevolence  and 
complacency.  They  are  righteous  persons,  and,  as 
such,  they  are  partakers  of  the  divine  nature;  they 
are  holy  persons,  and,  as  such,  God  has  joy  when 
he  looks  upon  them;  they  are  heirs  of  the  inherit- 
ance in  heaven,  and,  as  such,  they  are  now  enjoying 
it,  and  going  on  to  enjoy  it  forever.  In  the  range 
of  our  vision  there  is  one  person,  standing  all  alone, 
and  not  in  the  crowd  of  the  ninety  and  nine.  In 
his  face  there  is  no  beauty,  in  his  person  there  is  no 
attractive  dignity,  in  his  moral  character  there  is 
nothing  but  deformity.  He  has  made  himself  loath- 
some by  nourishing  his  depraved  nature.  He  has 
made  himself  devilish  by  indulging  in  sin.  But  he 
has  one  thing  in  him  by  which  he  is  well  marked, 
one  characteristic  by  which  he  is  distinguished ;  this 
one  thing  is  penitence — he  is  contrite;  he  is  the  sin- 
ner that  repents.  The  astounding  declaration  of  the 
text  is  true:  on  this  one  sinner,  because  he  is  peni- 
tent, God  looks  with  more  joy  than  on  the  ninety 
and  nine  who  are  righteous.  The  joy  is  not  in 
God's  heart  only  —  angels,  and  the  spirits  of  jnst 


JOY   IN   HEAVEN   OVER   PENITENT   SINNERS.  49 

men  in  glory,  and  righteous  people  on  earth,  all  re- 
joice. It  is  not  joy  alone  we  have  here,  but  we 
wish  all  to  see  that  it  is  a  large  measure  of  joy — 
"more  joy." 

2.  One  word  in  the  text  must  be  enunciated  with 
emphasis  when  the  text  is  read  in  the  church  or  in 
public.  This  word  is  "likewise"  It  occurs  twice  in 
the  discourse  reported  in  the  chapter.  The  chapter 
contains  three  parables,  all  turning  on,  and  intended 
to  illustrate,  this — "more  joy."  And  the  truth  is 
brilliant  when  all  three  unite  in  shedding  light  on 
it.  We  will  make  free  use  of  the  parables  to  enable 
the  reader  of  this  sermon  to  see  that  more  joy  is  felt 
over  one  sinner  that  repents  than  there  is  over 
ninety  and  nine  just  persons.  We  will  take  them  in 
the  order  that  suits  our  taste. 

1.  A  woman  had  ten  pieces  of  silver,  and  lost  one 
piece.     The  loss  was  the  cause  of  sorrow.    It  caused 
diligent  search,  by  the  help  of  a  lighted  candle  and 
a  broom,  until  the  silver  was  found.     When  it  was 
faund,  she  called  her  friends  and  neighbors  together, 
and  said,  "Eejoice  with  me,  for  I  have  found  the 
piece  which  I  had  lost."     And  then  the  Saviour 
says,  "Likewise,  I  say  unto  you,  there  is  joy  in  the 
presence  of  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that 
repents." 

2.  A  shepherd  had  in  his  flock  one  hundred  sheep, 
and  lost  one.     He  left  the  ninety  and  nine  in  the 
wilderness,  and  went  after  the  lost  until  he  found  it. 
His  joy  is  so  great  he  takes  it  in  his  arms,  puts  it 
on  his  shoulders  rejoicing,  carries  it  to  his  home  in 
safety.     The  sheep  could  riot  walk  fast  enough — the 


50  JOY   IN    HEAVEN    OVER   PENITENT    SINNERS. 

shepherd  carries  it  himself.  All  the  way  home  he 
goes  rejoicing.  He  calls  together  his  friends  and 
neighbors  to  share  his  joy.  It  was  not  joy  over  the 
ninety  and  nine  that  were  safe,  and  had  not  been 
lost;  over  these  the  neighboring  shepherds  had 
never  been  called  to  rejoice.  The  lost  one,  when 
found,  gives  them  joy — "  more  joy"  than  the  ninety 
•and  nine.  And  then  the  text  occurs  with  the  im- 
pressive expression,  "I  say  unto  you,"  and  the  em- 
phatic word  of  comparison,  "  likewise." 

3.  A  certain  man  had  two  sons.  This  introduces 
a  parable  whose  beauty  has  excited  the  world's  ad- 
miration. We  use  it  to  illustrate  the  text;  so  the 
great  Teacher  invented  and  used  it.  And  we  use 
it  to  illustrate  one  thing  in  the  text,  the  "  more  joy;" 
so  the  great  Teacher  used  it.  The  younger  of  the 
two  sons  was  profligate,  very  wicked,  and  licentious. 
He  wasted  his  property.  He  reduced'  himself  to 
beggary,  and  to  the  point  of  starvation.  He  hired 
himself  out  to  feed  hogs,  and  longed  to  partake  of 
the  food  which  he  gave  to  the  hogs.  In  his  reduced 
condition  and  squalid  poverty,  "he  came  to  him- 
self," and  said,  "How  many  hired  servants  of  my 
father  have  bread  enough  and  to  spare,  and  I  am 
perishing  with  hunger!  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my 
father,  and  will  say  unto  him,  Father,  I  have  sinned 
against  heaven,  and  before  thee,  and  am  no  more 
worthy  to  be  called  thy  son  :  make  me  as  one  of  thy 
hired  servants."  That  is  what  he  said  he  would 
say.  Immediately  he  set  out  for  his  father's  house. 
Evidences  of  joy  at  his  return  must  be  noted.  His 
father  saw  and  ran  to  meet  him  before  he  got  to  the 


JOY    IN    HEAVEN    OVER    PENITENT    SINNERS.  51 

house.  He  fell  on  his  neck.  He  kissed  him.  In 
his  overflowing  joy  he  stopped  him  in  his  confession. 
The  son  did  riot  say  what  he  said  he  would  say. 
He  ordered  the  best  robe  to  be  put  on  him.  He 
put  a  ring  on  his  finger.  He  killed  the  fatted  calf, 
and  called  his  friends  to  share  his  joy.  Had  the 
narrative  ended  here,  it  would  not  have  illustrated 
the  text  in  the  chief  thing,  the  "more  joy."  Who 
could  say  that  this  had  never  been  done  to  and.  for 
the  elder  son  if  he  had  not  charged  his  father  with 
partiality?  The  great  Teacher  is  a  Master  in  nar- 
ration !  The  elder  son  becomes  angry,  and  gives  as 
his  defense  the  fact  that  his  father  never  exhibited 
such  joy  over  him  as  was  lavished  on  the  prodigal. 
The  father  defends  himself  with  dignity.  His  words 
move  our  hearts.  This  anger  of  the  son,  and  his 
reason  for  it,  bring  out  clearly,  very  clearly,  that 
there  was  "more  joy"  over  the  penitent  prodigal 
than  there  ever  was  over  the  obedient  son.  The  lat- 
ter was  not  a  sample  of  the  righteous  man.  The 
Teacher  does  not  use  him  as  such,  no  more  than 
he  uses  "nine  pieces  of  silver,"  and  "ninety-nine 
sheep,"  as  samples  of  righteous  men.  The  thing 
aimed  at  and  accomplished  was  to  illustrate  the  text, 
and  encourage  sinners  to  repent.  It  does  this  with 
wonderful  force.  The  joy  of  the  father  over  the  eld- 
er son  is  strongly  expressed  in  these  words:  "Son, 
thou  art  ever  with  me,  and  all  that  I  have  is  thine." 
In  them  we  have  approval  and  commendation. 

In  all  the  words  used  in  this  parable  there  is  not 
one  that  expressed  approval  of  the  conduct  of  the 
prodigal  before  he  returned  to  his  father.  His  con- 


52  JOY  IN   HEAVEN   OVER   PENITENT   SINNERS. 

duct  was  very  bad.  The  narrative  exhibits  this 
clearly,  and  his  own  words  show  his  opinion  in 
respect  to  himself.  "Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven,  and  in  thy  sight,  and  am  no  more  worthy 
to  be  called  thy  son."  His  sense  of  guilt  is  shown 
very  plainty.  And  his  remorse  is  bitter.  But  re- 
morse is  not  repentance.  It  must  be  accompanied 
by,<  and  productive  of,  unreserved  renunciation  of 
sin  and  consecration  to  God.  In  these  the  will  is 
active,  and  when  the  will  consents  to  renounce  all 
sin,  and  to  return  to  God  with  honest  confession, 
then  we  see  "the  sinner  that  repents."  God  helps 
us  to  do  this,  for  without  him  we  cannot  repent. 
He  helps  when  we  seek  his  help  by  prayer.  He 
works  in  the  intellect  to  convict,  and  in  the  sensi- 
bilities to  produce  sorrow,  and  this  is  done  by  his 
word  and  Spirit.  But  man's  will  is  never  forced  to 
submit  to  the  will  of  God  in  repentance  and  faith. 
When  the  sinner  yields,  willingly  yields,  then  "God 
works  in  him  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure." 
Phil.  ii.  13. 

In  some  men  God  works  with  much  power  to 
produce  repentance.  Their  conviction  is  deep  and 
their  sorrow  is  great,  and  the  evidences  of  it  are 
harrowing.  And  these  are  often  used  as  samples, 
after  whom  we  must  fashion  ourselves.  Such  are 
seen  in  Luke  vii.  44-46,  and  xv.  17-21,  and  in 
Psalm  li.  But  in  others  repentance  is  equally  gen- 
uine and  saving,  without  signs  of  harrowing  grief 
and  dreadful  anguish;  and  it  is  so  because  they 
yield  readily  to  conviction,  and  humble  their  hearts 
in  confession  of  sins,  and  freely  consent  to  forsake 


JOY    IN    HEAVEN    OVER    PENITENT    SINNERS.  53 

sin  and  consecrate  themselves  to  God.  The  contest 
between  the  flesh  and  the  spirit  is  soon  ended  by 
their  invincible  resolution  to  submit  to  the  will  of 
God.  In  this  contest  God  looks  on  with  much  in- 
terest, and  when  the  contest  ends,  then  "there  is 
joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God." 

In  concluding  this  discourse,  and  representing 
the  conflict  between  God  and  man,  we  will  use  two 
extracts.  The  first  is  taken  from  Hickok's  Science 
of  the  Mind:  "When  the  awakened  sinner  yields 
to  his  animal  nature,  and  descends  into  degrading 
vices,  the  enslaved  man  knows,  and  sometimes 
keenly  feels,  the  deep  degradation  of  his  soul.  The 
rational  has  most  absurdly  bent  in  servitude  to  the 
animal;  the  spirit  has  most  unnaturally  fixed  its 
end  in  nature;  but  the  reason  sees  the  absurdity, 
and  the  spirit  feels  the  indignity,  and  hence  the 
wretched  man  cowers  in  shame  and  guilt  before 
the  upbraidings  of  his  own  conscience.  He  knows 
the  alternative  is  open;  the  perpetuation  of  his 
"shame  and  guilt  is  avoidable;  that  if  he  persist  in 
his  baseness  it  will  not  be  nature  holding  him  down 
under  any  form  of  necessity,  but  that  his  spirit 
freely  stays,  as  it  voluntarily  went  down  into  the 
place  of  its  degradation.  Every  hour's  delay,  every 
fresh  act  of  sensuous  gratification,  brings  down 
another  stroke  of  the  whip  of  scorpions,  for  he  is 
choosing  carnal  happiness,  when  he  might  be,  and 
ought  to  be,  aspiring  after,  and  reaping,  the  immor- 
tal dignities  and  honors  of  his  spiritual  birthright." 

The  second  is  taken  from  Watson's  Institutes.  In 
the  process  of  pardon  there  are  three  parties.  "  God, 


54  JOY    IN    HEAVEN    OVER    PENITENT    SINNERS. 

as  Sovereign:  'Who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the 
charge  of  God's  elect?  it  is  God  that  justifieth, 
who  is  he  that  condemneth?'  Christ,  as  Advocate: 
not  defending  the  guilty,  but  interceding  for  them: 
*It  is  Christ  that  died,  yea,  rather,  that  is  risen 
again,  who  is  even  at  the  right-hand  of  God,  who 
also  maketh  intercession  for  us.'  Kom.  viii.  33,  34. 
'If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  Advocate  with  the 
Father.'  1  John  ii.  1.  The  third  party  is  man,  who 
is,  by  his  own  confession,  guilty,  a  sinner,  ungodly; 
for  repentance  in  all  cases  precedes  remission,  and 
it  supposes  and  confesses  offense  and  desert  of  pun? 
ishment.  God  is  Judge  in  this  process;  not,  how- 
ever, by  the  law  of  creation  and  of  works,  but  by 
the  law  of  redemption  and  grace;  not  as  merely 
just,  though  just,  but  as  merciful;  not  as  merci- 
ful in  general,  and  without  any  respect  to  satisfac- 
tion, but  as  propitiated  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and 
having  accepted  the  propitiation  made  by  his  blood; 
not  merely  propitiated  by  his  blood,  but  moved  by 
his  intercession,  wThich  he  makes  as  our  Advocate 
in  heaven  ;  not  only  pleading  the  propitiation  made 
and  accepted,  but  the  repentance  arid  faith  of  the 
sinner,  and  the  promise  of  the  Judge  before  whom 
he  pleads.  Thus,  as  pardon  does  not  take  place 
but  upon  propitiation,  the  mediation  and  interces- 
sion of  Jesus  Christ,  and  on  the  condition,  on  the 
part  of  the  guilty,  of  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ's 
blood,  it  is  not  an  act  of  mere  mercy,  or  of  prerog- 
ative, but  one  which  consists  with  a  righteous 
government,  and  proceeds  on  grounds  that  secure 
the  honors  of  the  divine  justice." 


ALL  FOR  GOD. 

BY  THE  REV.  W.  T.  BOLLING, 

Western  Virginia  Conference. 

"And  there  came  a  certain  poor  widow,  and  she  threw  in 
two  mites,  which  make  a  farthing.  And  he  called  unto  him 
his  disciples,  and  saith  unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  That 
this  poor  widow  hath  cast  more  in  than  all  they  which  have 
cast  into  the  treasury."  Mark  xii.  42,  43. 

THE  Master  had  finished  a  most  remarkable  dis- 
course in  the  temple,  in  which  he  had  fully  un- 
masked the  shallow  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees,  and 
had  put  to  shame  the  skeptical  Sadducees.  With 
his  disciples  he  sat  in  the  court,  a  silent  yet  deeply- 
interested  spectator,  while  the  people  deposited  their 
offerings  in  the  treasury.  The  Pharisees,  yet  smart- 
ing under  the  severe  rebuke  administered,  were  of 
their  abundance  now  casting  in  much,  hoping  not 
only  to  gain  the  plaudits  of  the  multitude,  but  to 
draw  some  word  of  approbation  from  the  great 
Teacher.  No  word,  however,  escaped  him  as  he 
sat  reading  deeper  than  the  act,  penetrating  to  and 
analyzing  the  motive  which  prompted  each  donor. 
At  last  there  came  forward  one  whose  face-lines  of 
sorrow  betokened  a  child  of  suffering,  and  whose 
garb  proclaimed  her  at  once  poor  and  a  widow. 

This  woman  deposited  her  gift,  two  mites,  aggre- 

(55) 


56  ALL   FOR   GOD. 

gating  in  value  one  farthing,  the  price  of  two  spar- 
rows. No  gift  yet  deposited  was  so  small,  and  yet 
the  little  pieces  had  scarcely  left  her  lingers  before 
the  Master  broke  the  silence  in  the  words  of  our 
text.  Nothing  in  the  great  gifts  of  the  rich  was 
worthy  his  approbation,  yet  two  mites — despised  of 
man — called  forth  the  beautiful  words  and  lesson 
from  the  Lord.  To  the  thoughtless  these  are  strange 
and  meaningless  words,  while  to  the  earnest  and 
patient  searcher  after  truth  they  come  richly  laden 
with  instruction  and  comfort.  The  child  of  God, 
in  studying  them,  feels  as  though  he  was  passing 
from  the  shadows  of  night  into  the  beautiful  light 

o  o 

of  a  cloudless  morning.  They  reveal  the  scope  of 
God's  law — the  basis  of  divine  valuation — and  light 
up  the  path  of  practical  living,  and  have  been  the 
source  of  comfort  to  thousands,  as  they  were  to  this 
woman  and  his  disciples.  We  should  not  confine 
the  teaching  here  to  the  mere  matter  of  giving,  for 
giving  was  not  the  cause,  but  the  occasion  merely, 
of  the  utterance  of  these  words.  The  Master,  in 
making  the  time  of  giving  the  occasion,  has  given 
it  its  true  value,  and  proclaimed  giving  as  an  im- 
portant part  of  worship  and  a  divinely-appointed 
means  of  grace.  He  who  gives  not  receives  not, 
for  it  is  true  here  that  "  with  what  measure  ye  mete, 
it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again."  The  tendency 
of  man  is  to  stop  here,  and  hence  our  Lord  leads  us 
far  beyond  the  mere  occasion,  and  points  to  the 
deeper  cause  which  called  forth  his  gracious  appro- 
bation of  this  woman's  course,  and  directs  us  beyond 
the  mere  letter  to  the  spirit  of  worship.  Let  us, 


ALL   FOR   GOD.  57 

therefore,  humbly  and  prayerfblly  consider  the  deep 
meaning  of  these  words,  that  we  may  profit  by  the 
gracious  lesson  they  contain.  From  them  we  may 
find  set  forth  the  lesson : 

1 .  That  the  law  of  God  demanding  performance  of 
duty  extends  to  every  intelligent  being. 

No  circumstances,  no  condition  in  this  life,  can 
release  any  subject  from  its  demand.  How  prone 
is  man  to  neglect  duty  and  plead  circumstances  as 
an  excuse  to  his  protesting  conscience !  This  lesson 
will,  if  we  consider  it,  awake  us  from  this  dream. 
The  law  of  duty  is  coextensive  with  the  provision 
for  man  under  grace.  "  Christ  Jesus  tasted  death 
for  every  man,"  and  hence  every  man  is  called  upon 
to  consecrate  his  being  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  there 
can  be  no  exception.  In  this  instance  we  find  the 
law  as  recognized  and  enforced  by  our  Lord  as  ex- 
tending from  the  greatest  to  the  smallest,  from  the 
Pharisee  to  the  poor  widow,  from  millions  to  mites. 
If  there  could  be  an  exception,  certainly  this  poor 
woman  would  have  been  that  exception.  Think  of 
her  condition,  consider  her  surroundings,  and  think 
of  the  insignificance  of  her  possessions.  A  widow, 
alone,  and  dependent  upon  her  own  exertions  for  a 
living.  How  small  her  all  was!  two  mites — a  sin- 
gle farthing!  Might  she  not  have  paused  and  asked, 
What  good  can  these  do?  Human  sense  would  sug- 
gest they  can  do  nothing,  and  surely  they  can  never 
become  factors  necessary  to  the  solution  of  the  sub- 
lime problem  of  human  happiness  and  divine  glory. 
Compare  these  mites  under  human  valuation  with 
the  golden  deposits  of  the  rich,  and  how  Pride,  that 
3* 


58  ALL    FOR   GOD. 

spirit  of  Sataii,  would  urge,  If  you  go  with  such  an 
offering,  the  rich  will  laugh  you  to  scorn!  Surely, 
if  any  could  find  a  just  excuse,  she  could.  The  law 
of  God  demanded,  and  well  for  us  this  noble  wom- 
an's conscience  answered  to  its  demands,  deposited 
her  mites,  and  made  an  investment  which  has 
brought  a  sin-burdened  world  a  fortune,  and  caused 
millions  of  human  hearts  to  rejoice  in  the  light  of 
the  law  of  God  as  the  Master  unfolds  its  scope — 
holding  the  great  and  wealthy  in  its  grasp,  and  yet 
calling  to  the  poorest  and  weakest  in  that  vast 
throng  of  humanity.  Thousands  are  kept  back  from 
the  enjoyment  of  all  good  by  a  failure  to  recognize 
and  live  under  the  law  demanding  the  use  of  all 
man's  powers  and  possessions,  much  or  little,  to  the 
glory  of  God.  Law  pervades  the  universe,  and  un- 
der it  alone  is  a  wise  end  to  be  worked  out  by  the 
harmonious  development  of  all  forces.  There  is  no 
waste  in  the  physical  universe,  and  we  have  as  wise 
an  end  to  be  worked  out  through  the  ephemera  as 
the  eagle,  through  the  mole  as  a  mastodon.  So  in 
the  sphere  of  spirit-forces  there  must  be  no  waste. 
Every  being  is  important — none  can  for  a  moment 
be  excluded  as  a  factor  in  the  unfoldment  of  the 
sublime  end  in  view,  the  elevation  of  humanit}r  in 
the  scale  of  holiness  and  happiness,  and  the  glory 
of  God.  The  mighty  instrument  of  universal  cre- 
ation must  be  in  tune,  and  its  highest  harmony  pro- 
duced only  when  the  fingers  of  God  sweep  its  keys, 
from  atoms  to  angels.  So  the  Master  here  recog- 
nized the  rich  and  this  poor  widow  as  common  sub- 
jects of  the  same  inexorable  law. 


ALL   FOR  GOD.  69 

This  law  does  not  merely  come  to  man  as  a  fam- 
ily, but  presses  upon  each  and  every  individual  of 
our  race.  Christ  Jesus  suffered  and  provided  for 
every  man  as  a  separate  being,  and  every  individual 
may  claim  all  the  blessings,  and  must  recognize  all 
the  responsibilities,  provided  for  under  the  gracious 
plan  of  redemption.  Every  man  is  a  sovereign, 
governing  a  most  wonderful  realm,  and  the  manner 
of  his  individual  living  here  must  settle  his  individ- 
ual destiny  in  the  world  to  come.  While  we  should 
never  forget  that  "none  of  us  liveth  unto  himself, 
and  no  man  dieth  unto  himself,"  yet  we  should  ever 
remember  that  we  have  individual  powers,  privi- 
leges, and  responsibilities,  and  that  "every  one  of 
us  must  give  an  account  of  himself  unto  God." 
This  poor  woman's  success,  and  our  profit  arising 
from  this  lesson,  was  and  is  the  result  of  a  proper 
conception  upon  her  part  of  her  duty  as  an  indi- 
vidual, separate  and  distinct  from  every  other  being 
in  that  temple  -  throng.  Whatever  others  might 
or  might  not  do  was  no  question  with  her.  Had 
she  paused  to  consider  this  question,  she  would 
have  failed.  The  neglect  of  duty  upon  your  part, 
dear  reader,  may  carry  some  one  down  to  woe,  but 
the  neglect  of  duty  by  some  one  else  wilt  never  jus- 
tify you  or  lift  you  up  to  heaven.  Every  man  must, 
in  this  sense,  "bear  his  own  burden."  Such  was 
the  conception  of  the  great  leader  of  the  people  of 
God  when  he  said,  "As  for  me  and  my  house,  we 
will  serve  the  Lord."  Such  was  the  conception  of 
the  iron-nerved  man  of  God  when  he  stood  at  Car- 
mel  face  to  face  with  false  prophets,  a  wicked  king, 


60  ALL   FOR    GOD. 

and  the  wavering  thousands  of  Israel.  The  great 
Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  realized  this  individual  re- 
sponsibility to  law  when,  facing  false  teachers  and 
a  misguided  people,  he  exclaimed,  "  God  forbid  that 
I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ!"  Whatever  course  others  may  pursue, 
every  man  must  remember  his  own  individual  re- 
sponsibilities growing  out  of  his  own  powers  and 
privileges.  These  responsibilities  we  can  by  no 
process  rid  ourselves  of;  they  come  with  our  com- 
ing, go  with  us  along  the  path  of  life,  go  with  us 
into  the  mists  of  the  valley  and  shadow  of  death, 
and  more,  must  accompany  us  along  the  path  of 
destiny  even  to  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  Man 
is  prone  to  forget  that  he  must  hold  a  personal,  in- 
dividual, interview  with  God.  Alone  with  God  he 
must  be  —  alone  with  his  life-record,  to  stand  or 
fall  upon  his  personal  course  while  on  probation. 
No  doubt  these  truths  pressed  home  upon  this  good 
woman,  and  though  every  Pharisee  laughed,  though 
the  littleness  of  her  offering  caused  a  blush  to  man- 
tle her  face,  though  all  else  was  gone  but  a  tender 
conscience  answering  to  the  demand  of  the  law  of 
God,  she  came  forward  to  duty,  and  blessed  the 
world  through  all  the  ages,  and  went  home  happy 
in  the  consciousness  of  the  approval  of  the  Master, 
and  renewed  in  strength. 

2.  The  Master  demands  that  we  do  all  we  can,  and 
gauges  our  responsibilities  by  our  ability  and  opportuni- 
ties. 

None  are  neglected  in  the  distribution  of  divine 
gifts,  and  none  can  be  excused  for  the  want  of  op- 


ALL    FOR    GOD.  61 

portunitj  to  do  good.  All  in  tlie  temple  on  this 
occasion  have  something,  and  every  one  the  same 
opportunity  to  perform  duty.  Many,  however,  failed 
then,  as  many  fail  now,  not  for  want  of  ability  and 
opportunity,  but  from  a  refusal  to  recognize  the  law 
of  God,  requiring  us  not  to  do  merely  what  we  will, 
but  to  do  all  we  can.  God  measures  our  responsi- 
bilities by  our  possibilities,  and  in  all  that  throng 
this  poor  woman  was  the  only  one  who  measured 
and  met  the  possibilities  of  the  hour  and  the  sur- 
roundings. The  rich  of  their  abundance  gave  much, 
but  after  all  it  was  only  a  part.  The  widow  gave 
less  than  they,  and  yet  she  gave  more,  for  it  was 
her  all.  No  half-hearted  service  is  acceptable  to 
God.  Nicodemus  never  gained  by  coming  at  night, 
and  Ananias  was  lost  by  keeping  back  a  part.  The 
world  would  willingly  give  a  part,  and,  indeed,  all 
men  do;  yet  few,  comparatively,  enjoy,  because 
few  give  all.  The  great  day  will  reveal  the  fearful 
woe  coming  upon  many,  not  because  of  what  they 
"have  done,  but  rather  of  what  they  have  not  done. 
How  clearly  is  this  revealed  in  the  parable  of  the 
talents!  The  demand  was  made  upon  each  in 
accordance  with  his  ability  and  opportunities  for 
improvement.  Those  who  received  five  and  two 
talents  respectively,  traded  to  the  full  measure  of 
their  ability  and  opportunities,  and  doubled  their 
lord's  money.  The  servant  with  one  talent  proves 
utterly  criminal,  and  is  cast  out,  not  because  he  had 
squandered  his  lord's  money,  but  because  he  had 
done  nothing.  He  was  not  required  to  improve 
more  than  he  had  ability  to  improve,  and  yet  it 


62  ALL   FOR   GOD. 

would  require  all  his  ability  exercised  to  improve  it. 
Here,  then,  we  see  God's  law  measuring  our  respon- 
sibility by  our  ability  and  opportunities. 

The  Master  here  did  not  condemn  the  rich  for 
giving  much,  and  commend  the  widow  for  giving 
little,  but  condemned  those  who  kept  more  for  them- 
selves while  giving  to  God  much,  and  commended 
the  poor  widow  who  met  the  measure  of  possibility, 
and  gave  all  she  had,  and  thus  coming  entirely  to 
God,  and  placing  herself  in  his  keeping.  The  idea 
that  we  are  to  do  only  what  is  pleasant  to  do  is  a 
most  fearful  device  of  Satan,  leading  thousands  down 
to  woe.  It  was  pleasant  for  the  rich  to  give  some  to 
God,  with  no  inconvenience  to  themselves,  but  it 
was  hard  for  this  woman  to  yield  her  last  farthing, 
and  turn  her  face  away  from  the  temple  with  noth- 
ing left — all  given  to  God.  This  was  a  grand  faith 
— giving  all  to  God,  and  trusting  him  for  every 
thing.  The  religion  of  Jesus  is  one  of  crosses,  of 
constant  crucifixion  of  human  pride  and  power. 
The  man  who  serves  God  and  despises  evil  must 
have  a  religion  which  costs  him  something;  and 
if  it  cost  nothing,  he  will  soon  give  it  away.  The 
disciple  must  make  a  deliberate  choice  between  val- 
ues. God  and  the  world  both  claim  man,  and  he 
must  give  up  one  or  the  other,  for  "  ye  cannot  serve 
God  and  mammon,"  for  such  is  the  constitution  of 
humanity  that  "no  man  can  serve  two  masters." 
The  world  must  be  used  as  a  means  to  a  higher  end. 
Moses  must  give  up  the  pleasures  of  sin,  turn  his 
back  upon  the  crown  of  Egypt,  to  become  the  leader 
of,  and  a  sufferer  with,  the  people  of  God.  Mat- 


ALL   FOR    GOD.  63 

thew  must  resign  his  place  at  the  receipt  of  customs, 
and  leave  all  to  become  an  acceptable  disciple.  Pe- 
ter, James,  and  John,  when  the  night  of  weary. and 
fruitless  toil  was  over,  were  ready  for  any  change; 
but  Jesus  did  not  call  them  then.  It  was  only  when 
they,  by  his  command,  had  pushed  out  into  deep 
water,  and  casting  their  nets,  had  filled  their  boats 
with  the  coveted  load  of  worldly  value,  that  the 
call  came  to  them,  "  Follow  me."  They  now  knew 
its  deep  import,  and  left  all,  and  followed  him.  Let 
us  rest  assured  we  can  never  enjoy  the  approval  of 
the  Master  by  a  half-hearted  service,  which  will 
prompt  us  to  give  of  abundance  even  much  to  him. 
He  demands  a  consecration  of  all  we  have.  En- 
dowed as  man  is  with  all-sufficient  ability,  and  sur- 
rounded by  abundant  opportunities  to  call  all  his 
possible  capacities  into  play,  God  demands  that  he 
do  so,  and  whatever  we  have,  millions  or  mites,  all 
must  be  yielded  to  his  glory.  Moses  on  ]STebo,  view- 
ing the  promised  land,  and  contemplating  the  glo- 
rious coming  and  conquering  of  the  King  of  kings; 
Elijah,  driving  the  chariot  of  God  along  the  celes- 
tial way,  above  the  path  of  death,  and  going  home 
to  rest;  St.  Paul,  rising  on  the  tides  of  assurance 
and  joy,  and  from  the  crest  of  the  last  wave  shout- 
ing the  song  of  triumph  back  to  a  sorrowing  world 
— all  who  ever  stood  in  the  glorious  light  of  God  as 
it  makes  beautiful  the  valley  of  death — all  have  re- 
joiced by  doing  not  what  they  would,  but,  in  conse- 
cration to  God,  doing  what  they  could  in  the  sphere 
where  God  places  them.  The  great  want  of  the 
world  to-day  is  not  mere  hearers  of  the  word,  but 


64  ALL   FOR   GOD. 

doers  of  the  works  as  well.  "  Whoso  looketh  into 
the  perfect  law  of  liberty,  and  continueth  therein, 
he  being  not  a  forgetful  hearer,  but  a  doer  of  the 
work,  this  man  shall  be  blessed  in  his  deeds." 
Right-thinking  is  very  necessary,  yet  right-think- 
ing, uncoupled  with  right-doing,  is  utterly  value- 
less. The  duty  of  every  follower  of  Christ  is  to 
do  all  he  or  she  can,  and  that,  too,  just  when  and 
where  God  in  his  wisdom  has  placed  them.  This 
woman's  presence  in  the  temple  at  this  time  was 
an  all-sufficient  evidence  of  her  orthodoxy  of  be- 
lief; yet,  without  the  actual  doing  of  her  duty 
under  the  demand  of  the  law  of  labor,  she  would 
never  have  received  the  blessed  commendation  of 
the  Master,  and  the  world  would  have  lost  the  rich 
legacy  of  his  words,  and  the  comforting  lessons  they 
contain.  We  should  ever  remember  the  lesson  here, 
that  we  are  to  do  as  we  have  ability.  God  knows 
us  and  our  capacities.  We  frequently  remain  idle 
because  we  can  find  no  great  thing  to  do.  How 
frequently  do  men  fail  at  this  point!  Let  me  do 
some  great  thing!  is  the  cry  of  Pride.  All  this  is 
sin.  We  must  labor  just  in  the  field  God  has  se- 
lected for  us.  If,  with  small  capacity,  we  fail  to 
labor  in  a  small  field,  would  we  not  fail,  with  large 
capacity,  to  labor  in  a  large  field?  Remember,  our 
capacity  is  the  measure  of  our  responsibility.  Had 
this  woman  possessed  three  mites,  and  given  two, 
she  would  never  have  been  noticed  more  than  oth- 
ers; but  when  she  gave  all,  though  that  all  was  al- 
most as  nothing,  she  met  the  demand,  and  her  gift 
measured  her  capacity,  and  met  her  responsibility. 


ALL    FOR   GOD.  65 

Because  God  has  not  given  us  much,  we  will  be 
none  the  less  guilty  if  we  fail  to  use  our  little  for 
his  glory.  If  God  has  given  you  five  talents,  he  will 
be  satisfied  only  with  five  talents  more  at  his  com- 
ing. If  he  has  given  you  two  talents,  he  will  re- 
quire two  more.  Few  may  do  great  works,  yet  all 
may  do  important  work.  "As  ye  have  opportunity, 
do  good  unto  all  men."  This  world  is  very  wide, 
and  as  a  vast  ocean  is  lashed  by  the  storms,  so  is 
this  poor  world  lashed  by  the  storms  of  trial.  Ah, 
how  poor  humanity  is  suffering  all  over  the  sin- 
cursed  sphere!  The  field  is  very  large  —  large 
enough  for  us  all  to  work  in.  The  minister  and 
the  layman  alike  can  find  plenty  to  do.  The  clouds 
of  woe,  which  hang  so  loweringly  over  the  people 
who  know  no  gospel  light,  tell  us  where  much  may 
be  done,  and  the  sorrow -burdened  millions  all 
around  us  are  calling  us  to  a  duty  we  owe  them. 
How  strange  it  is  that  professed  Christians  say,  "I 
cannot  do  any  thing!"  God  bless  you,  my  brother, 
or  sister,  it  is  because  you  will  not  do  something. 
God  is  not  calling  alone  for  the  millions  of  the  rich, 
but  for  your  two  mites.  You  can  do  something  for 
him  if  you  will,  and  woe  unto  you  if  you  fail  in 
this  duty! 

3.  The  Master  values  our  efforts  not  by  their  apparent 
magnitude,  but  by  the  spirit  in  which  they  are  put  forth. 

Neither  the  much  cast  in  by  the  rich  nor  the  mites 
of  the  widow  were  within  themselves  of  any  value 
in  the  eyes  of  our  Lord.  No  system  of  calculation 
could  make  much  mites,  or  mites  much.  They  had 
their  human  value,  and  no  process  could  alter  them. 


66  ALL    FOR    GOD. 

In  the  eyes  of  the  Master  they  had  no  value  in 
themselves. 

Deeds,  labors,  however  great,  can  never,  in  the 
eyes  of  God,  be  meritorious  in  themselves.  God  is 
cause — not  effect.  He  searches  the  heart,  and  re- 
gards not  the  mere  act.  He  demands  all,  and  that 
we  do  all  we  can,  and  then  tells  us :  "  So  likewise 
ye,  when  ye  have  done  all  these  things  which  are 
commanded  you,  say  we  are  unprofitable  servants, 
we  have  clone  that  which  was  our  duty  to  do."  To 
assume  that  the  Master  will  reward  us  according  to 
the  magnitude  of  our  works,  from  the  stand-point 
of  human  valuation,  would  have  excluded  this  poor 
woman,  and  would  indeed  give  the  rich  rewards  of 
heaven  to  the  more  favored  few,  and  cut  off  the  vast 
majority  of  our  race.  Happily  for  us,  the  blessed 
Lord  does  not  so  judge.  This  woman's  mites  were 
of  more  value  than  all  the  rich  cast  in,  not  merely 
because  they  were  all  she  had,  for  deeper  yet  lies 
the  reason.  These  two  mites  stood  out  as  her  heart's 
offering  to  God  in  contrast  with  the  pride-offering 
of  the  rich  —  the  basis  of  divine  valuation  being 
not  the  earthly  value,  but  the  deeper  cause,  the 
prompting  motive.  Seeing,  then,  that  there  must  be 
something  deeper  than  the  mere  act,  and  that  a  cer- 
tain spirit  lends  value  even  to  the  smallest  offering, 
and  its  absence  makes  the  much  valueless,  we  may 
inquire  what  this  is.  One  simple  word  answers, 
Lore.  The  smallest  labor  performed  by  my  child 
from  love  is  precious  to  me,  while  the  day's  toil  for 
wages  is  utterly  of  no  pleasure  to  me.  So  no  labor 
is  rendered  acceptable  to  the  Master  unless  it  spring 


ALL    FOR    GOD.  67 

from  love.  No  matter  how  much  a  man  may  do, 
yet  he  must  fail  if  he  have  not  love  as  its  basis. 
"If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let 
him  be  Anathema,  Maran  atha."  No  man  was  ever 
more  deeply  versed  in  the  things  of  God  than  the 
great  Apostle  Paul.  Religion  with  him  was  his 
daily  life.  He  was  ever  calm,  and  yet  moved  pro- 
foundly;  while  his  heart  was  always  hot,  his  head 
was  always  cool.  He  sounded  the  depths  and  as- 
cended the  heights  of  personal  religious  experience. 
Neither  the  serpent  of  Miletus,  beasts  at  Ephesus, 
jail  at  Philippi,  nor  death  at  Home,  could  cause  him 
to  hesitate  for  a  moment;  but  amid  all  these  things 
he  exclaimed,  "  None  of  these  things  move  me ! " 
"What  does  he  tell  us?  hear  him:  "  Though  I  give 
all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor;  yea,  though  I  give 
my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have  not  charity  [love], 
it  profiteth  me  nothing."  The  reason  he  gives  us 
for  his  giving  up  all,  and  counting  suffering  pleas- 
ant, and  loss  gain,  is,  "  The  love  of  Christ  constrain- 
eth  us."  And  he  made  this  the  basis  of  all  his  re- 
ligious life. 

No;  these  two  mites  were  but  little,  yet  this 
woman's  all.  No  process  of  human  reasoning,  no 
pride  could  get  them.  It  was  only  when  love 
came  in,  and  she  valued  God  and  his  law  above 
all  worldly  things,  that  her  little  mites  became  as 
nothing  to  her,  and  valuable  to  the  Master.  Peter 
and  John  seem  at  first  to  be  led  by  very  different 
motives,  though  at  last  they  were  in  perfect  agree- 
ment. John,  from  the  first,  was  "that  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved,"  because  from  the  first  John 


68  ALL    FOR    GOD. 

was  that  disciple  who  loved  Jesus.  Simon's  profes- 
sion was  great,  and  his  outward  acts  of  devotion 
many,  but  never  until  the  moment  of  his  trial 
did  he  realize  that  love  alone  could  make  a  true 
disciple.  When  afterward  the  Master  asked  him, 
"  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me?"  did  he  feel 
the  full  import  of  the  divine  requirement,  and  his 
throbbing  heart  answered  its  demands  when  he 
said,  "Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things;  thou  knowest 
that  I  love  thee."  St.  John  gives  us  the  reason  of 
this  requirement  when  he  tells  us,  "  God  is  love." 
Pride,  or  even  fear,  may  cause  us  to  give  God  some 
of  our  abundance,  but  love  alone  can  lead  us  to  the 
cross,  and  induce  us  to  leave  there  our  all  as  a  pure 
heart-offering  to  the  blessed  Saviour. 

The  words  of  the  Master  are  beautiful  words ; 
the  works  of  the  Master  were  grand  works,  but  the 
love  of  the  Master  for  a  lost  world  contains  the  sub- 
lime force  of  the  gospel.  No  human  power,  no 
wisdom  of  man,  no  wealth,  could  save  a  world  lost 
in  the  gloom  of  the  sin-night.  The  love  of  God,  as 
unfolded  in  the  gift  of  his  Son,  has  concentrated  and 
flashed  its  life-giving  light  upon  us,  kindled  the 
fires  of  love  upon  the  altars  of  human  hearts,  and 
moving  them  to  labor  until  the  truths  of  God  are 
hung  upon  the  mystic  thread  of  the  ages,  sparkling 
with  renewed  beauty  beneath  each  successive  cent- 
ury's sun,  raising  poor  humanity  from  the  dust  of 
woe,  and  making  it  rich  in  precious  hope  of  eternal 
life.  How  precious  is  the  truth  that  millions  and 
mites  are  of  equal  value  in  themselves  in  his  sight! 
Dives  cannot  purchase  a  mansion,  yet  poor  Lazarus 


ALL   FOR   GOD.  69 

can  gain  one  without  money  and  without  price. 
Pride  may  come,  laden  with  its  costly  gifts;  Fear 
may  come,  staggering  under  its  heavy  burden  of 
duty;  but  the  mists  of  selfishness  will  shut  out  the 
light  of  hope,  and  fearful  silence  will  be  unbroken 
by  any  word  of  commendation  by  the  Master.  Love 
may  come,  clothed  in  garments  of  poverty,  or  bathed 
in  tears  of  sorrow,  and  yet  her  precious  gift  will  be 
received,  and  the  rich  benediction,  "  Well  done,thou 
good  and  faithful  servant;  thou  hast  been  faithful 
over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many 
things,"  be  heard.  These  lessons  should  impress  us 
with  the  fearfulness  of  human  life,  with  its  vast 
privileges  and  great  responsibilities.  The  Master 
sits  in  the  great  temple  to-day,  and  watches  each  one 
of  us  in  our  coming  and  going,  viewing  and  ana- 
lyzing our  motives,  penetrating  to  the  inmost  depths 
of  our  souls. 

The  law  of  duty,  demanding  that  we  do  some- 
thing for  God,  holds  us  in  its  iron  grasp.  In  the 
great  Avorld-temple  we  stand  with  the  Pharisees  or 
the  widow  in  spirit,  and  our  course  in  time  must 
settle  our  estate  in  eternity.  No  circumstances  can 
release  us  from  its  demands.  All  can  do  something 
for  the  Master — casting  in  much  or  mites.  Though 
all  cannot  do  great  things,  we  can  all  do  important 
things;  for  nothing  can  be  so  small  but  that,  if  done 
through  love,  it  will  be  received  as  of  value  by  the 
Lord.  Brother,  sister,  wait  not  for  greater  oppor- 
tunities, but  go  out  to-day  in  the  field  God  has  as- 
signed you,  and  where  in  his  grace  he  has  placed 
you;  sflean  it,  and  brins;  the  results — much  or  little 


70  ALL   FOR   GOD. 

— and  consecrate  it  to  his  service.  Remember,  even 
if  you  can  do  no  more  than  give  a  cup  of  cold  wa- 
ter to  one  of  his  suffering,  thirsty  ones,  he  has 
promised  you  shall  not  be  unrewarded.  Go  out  and 
perform  duty — succor  the  distressed,  relieve  the 
needy,  pray  for  the  oppressed,  even  suffer  for  God, 
and  leave  results  with  him.  How  little  did  this 
woman  know  of  the  final  results  of  her  course  in 
its  effects  upon  the  world!  The  Master's  blessing  to 
her  was  the  least  of  it.  That  was  a  grand  hour 
for  her  when  she  went  home  conscious  of  having 
then  performed  duty  and  received  the  blessed  Sav- 
iour's benediction  of  approval;  yet  how  small  a  part 
was  this  of  the  result  of  his  words  of  comfort,  drawn 
forth  by  her  spirit  and  walk!  how  they  have  come 
to  the  weary  millions  with  the  ages,  making  the 
souls  of  men  glad,  even  when  curtained  by  the 
shadows  of  sorrow's  dreary  night!  Her  poverty  has 
become  a  fortune  to  humanity,  and  the  results  of 
her  performance  of  duty  a  heritage  precious  to  the 
world.  Let  us  do  as  she  did,  and  thus  bless  our- 
selves and  the  world  about  us. 

Child  of  God,  look  around  you.  A  gladsome  uni- 
verse in  the  sublimity  of  its  harmony  invites  us  to 
join  it  in  its  mighty  and  harmonious  anthem  of 
praise  to  God.  The  bending  heavens  of  the  future, 
unflecked  by  clouds,  and  jeweled  with  stars  of  prom- 
ise, are  just  before  us.  The  redeemed,  washed  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb,  await  us  just  beyond  the  river, 
while  the  angels — busy  workers  for  God  —  stand 
ready  to  greet  and  hail  us  as  fellow-laborers  and  citi- 
zens in  the  kingdom  of  our  Father.  You  may  be 


ALL    FOR    GOD.  71 

poor,  very  poor,  and  be  scorned  by  the  rich — so  was 
this  poor  woman ;  you  may  be  wrapped  in  sorrow— 
and  so  was  she.  Remember,  dear  reader,  all  times, 
places,  and  circumstances,  reveal  something  to  do,  or 
to  be  suftered,  for  the  Master.  "  Our  labor  is  not  in  vain 
in  the  Lord."  This  poor  woman  has  no  mites  now, 
and  no  sorrow.  Her  mites  have  grown  into  a  crown, 
a  robe,  a  home,  "  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  un- 
defiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away."  All  these  await 
us  if  we  do  all  we  can  where  God  in  his  wisdom 
places  us,  using  our  all — much  or  mites — for  his 
glory.  Bring  your  gifts  to  the  Master,  dear  reader. 
Bring  your  mental  powers,  bring  your  heart,  bring 
your  life  to  Jesus,  and  consecrate  them  all  to  him — 
keeping  back  nothing  from  him — and  then  will  you 
be  happy  here;  and  when  the  end  shall  come — as 
come  it  must — then,  above  the  grand,  solemn  dox- 
ology  of  fading  spheres,  you  may  join  the  glad  an- 
them of  praise  which,  from  his  laborers,  called  to 
an  eternal  rest,  shall  swell  in  billowy  tides  of  joy- 
ous harmony,  "  Unto  Him  that  loved  us  and  washed 
us  in  his  own  blood."  God  help  us  to  be  faithful 
in  all  things — much  or  little — so  as  to  live  and  die 
to  his  glory! 


V. 

INQUIRY  AND  INVITATION;    OR,  PHIL- 
IP'S PHILOSOPHY. 

BY  THE  REV.  J.  B.  McGEHEE,  A.M., 

South  Georgia  Conference. 

"And  Nathanael  said  unto  him,  Can  there  any  good  thing 
come  out  of  Nazareth  ?  Philip  saith  unto  him,  Come  and 
see."  John  i.  46. 

NATHANAEL  was  not  a  free-thinker,  skeptic,  or  ra- 
tionalist. Had  he  been  either,  or  worse,  he  is  enti- 
tled to  the  benefit  of  correct  criticism — a  hearing 
characterized  by  candor  and  charity.  This  is  digni- 
fying in  itself,  advances  the  cause  of  truth,  and 
should  be  awarded  all  men  and  every  measure. 
"With  thinking  men,  impromptu  and  indiscriminate 
censure  or  praise  are  little  more  than  the  ebullitions 
of  a  madman  and  the  flattery  of  a  fool. 

To  these  tests  we  propose  to  subject  the  question 
and  conduct  of  Nathanael.  Let  us  see  if  that  char- 
ity which  "thinketh  no  evil"  does  not  acquit  him 
of  doubt,  or  downright  denial.  More — let  us  ask 
if  the  inquiry  of  the  one  was  not  as  practical  and 
profound  as  the  invitation  of  the  other  was  wise 
and  weighty. 

Nazareth  was  situated  in  Lower  Galilee.  Here 
was  the  home  of  our  Lord  for  thirty  years.  Though 
a  small  city,  it  was  not  destitute  of  attractions  and 

(72) 


THE  REV.   J.   B.   McGEHEK. 
Of  the  South  Georgia  Conference. 


INQUIRY   AND   INVITATION.  73 

advantages.  Beautiful  in  scenery,  commanding  in 
situation,  its  sublime  surroundings  fully  atoned  the 
presence  of  difficult  ascent,  rugged  rocks,  and  hills 
made  bald  by  dashing  rains.  If  we  may  credit 
Geike's  admirable  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  "  in  spring-time 
Nazareth  was  the  prettiest  place  in  Palestine."  In 
school  and  synagogue  it  was  not  wanting,  nor  in 
inlet  and  outlet.  The  old  Roman  road  ran  near  the 
foot  of  the  hill,  and  was*  intersected  by  other  high- 
ways. These  blessed  or  cursed  the  mountain  city 
with  the  civilization,  commerce,  and  crimes  of  Rome, 
Phenicia,  and  Arabia.  Thus  opened  to  the  world, 
Nazareth  increased  in  corruption.  Her  citizens 
grew  turbulent;  her  own  hands  led  her  Christ  "to 
the  brow  of  the  hill  whereon  their  city  was  built, 
that  they  might  cast  him  down  headlong;  but  he, 
passing  through  the  midst  of  them,  went  his  way." 

Some  have  supposed  that  exhibitions  like  this 
spread  a  film  of  prejudice  over  the  eyes  of  Nathan- 
ael,  and  thus  caused  him  to  suspect  the  merit  of 
any  thing  emanating  from  such  a  source.  We  are 
not  surprised.  The  judicious  Hooker  himself  in- 
dulges the  thought  that  "  the  subtilty  of  Satan, 
casting  a  mist  before  his  eyes,  putteth  in  his  heart 
the  commonly -conceived  persuasion  concerning 
Nazareth." 

Sentiments  like  these  merit  regard  and  remark, 
because  they  accord  with  our  knowledge  of  Satanic 
working,  man's  weakness,  and  the  law -world  in 
which  he  lives.  Between  cause  and  effect,  parent 
and  offspring,  government  and  citizen,  home  and 
character,  there  are,  and  will  be  till  the  trump 
4 


74  INQUIRY   AND   INVITATION;    OB, 

sounds,  relation  and  likeness.  Name  and  nativity 
adjudge  us  little  or  large.  Nothing  is  more  com- 
mon than  the  association  of  high  expectation  with 
many  and  high-sounding  titles.  We  pause — to  see 
if  we  are  in  the  presence  of  a  human.  Left  to  our- 
selves, we  cannot  see  how  that  crying  child,  buried 
in  the  bulrushes,  can  ever  be  learned  in  the  wisdom 
of  Egypt,  the  leader  of  all  Israel,  the  lawgiver  of 
the  world.  Like  the  son  of  Socrates,  we  are  ever 
saying,  "If  we  would  develop  a  perfect  man,  we 
must  surround  him  with  perfect  circumstances." 

Does  nothing  correct  this?  We  answer,  Yes. 
There  is  a  day-dawn  that  chases  away  the  mists  of 
the  morning.  There  is  a  "day-star  that  arises  in 
our  hearts."  Was  not  Philip's  message  the  dawn 
of  day  to  the  mind  of  Nathanael?  Was  it  not  fol- 
lowed by  the  day-star  flooding  his  moral  being  with 
beauty  and  ineffable  bliss?  We  shall  see. 

The  short,  simple  story  that  brought  him  to  Jesus 
was  this:  "We  have  found  him  of  whom  Moses  in 
the  law  and  the  prophets  did  write,  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth, the  Son  of  Joseph."  Conversant  with  the 
law  and  the  prophets,  having  so  often  heard  "And 
thou  Bethlehem  of  Judea,"  it  was  both  practical  and 
pious  for  him  to  ask,  "  Can  any  good  thing  [that 
good  thing]  come  out  of  Nazareth?"  Far  from  pro- 
faning, he  was  in  intent  guarding  the  sacred  Script- 
ures. Free  from  deceitful  ness — a  vice  so  common 
with  Jews — he  was  "  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom 
is  no  guile."  Fixing  his  eye  on  Jesus,  and  firm  in 
the  faith,  grander  discoveries,  graver  duties,  and  a 
glorious  destiny,  were  in  prospect.  The  sincere  in- 


PHILIP'S  PHILOSOPHY.  75 

quirer  becomes  Bartholomew — one  of  the  twelve — 
and  a  life  initiated  by  honest  inquiry  exchanges  the 
cross  of  a  martyr  for  the  crown  of  a  king. 

Turning  from  these  thoughts,  indulged  largely 
for  the  help  they  bring  to  a  proper  analysis  of  the 
text,  we  submit  the  following  propositions: 

I.  All  inquiries  into  the  great  truths  of  the  gos- 
pel, if  successful,  should  be  conducted  in  reverence 
and  profound  humility. 

II.  The  greatest  truths  of  our  holy  religion — the 
good  emanating  from  Nazareth — are  apprehended, 
not  by  logical  process,  but  by  personal  approach 
and  individual  experience. 

III.  The  benefits  flowing  from  such  an  investiga- 
tion justify  all  the  expenditure  involved  in  Chris- 
tian life. 

I.  Inquiries  into  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel. 

1.  Are  they  admissible?  We  readily  answer, 
They  are.  God  has  implanted  in  man  a  disposition 
to  inquire  into  the  origin  and  nature  of  things, 
^ind  this  in  part  distinguishes  him  from  beast  and 
bird,  and  assimilates  him  to  loftier  and  purer  intel- 
ligences. Inquisitiveness  is  a  valuable  ally.  The 
spirit  of  search  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  mental 
progress.  Right  education  seeks  to  foster  it.  To 
stimulate  it,  books  and  maps,  pictures  and  prizes, 
lectures  and  essays,  address  the  eye,  ear,  and  heart, 
of  youth.  To  its  altar  the  sons  of  science  and  song 
bring  their  daily  oblations.  Born  in  the  nursery, 
developed  in  the  school-room,  common  to  all  ranks, 
essential  to  every  avocation,  it  was  given  for  great 
mental  and  moral  ends.  Sanctified,  it  sends  forth 


76  INQUIRY   AND   INVITATION;    OK, 

waters  for  the  healing  of  the  nations,  clear  as  crys- 
tal. Secularized,  it  is  a  fountain  of  unmixed  evil. 
The  abuse  of  it  gave  the  world  "  The  Age  of  Rea- 
son," a  publication  as  shallow  and  slanderous  as 
Paine's  life  was  licentious.  Loosely  reined,  it  led 
the  well-intentioned  Kant  to  diverge,  till  the  defend- 
er of  the  faith  developed  into  the  father  of  German 
infidelity.  Our  own  Commonwealth  furnishes  a  sad 
illustration  of  its  abuse.  Proud  intellect  and  brill- 
iant oratory  associated  with  irreverence  and  absence 
of  regard  for  the  living  and  the  dead!  What  a 
monster!  Let  his  name  remain  unmentioned.  This 
is  one  side,  but  splendid  illustrations  of  the  other 
are  not  wanting.  The  names  of  Moses  and  Paul, 
Newton,  Hugh  Miller,  and  Livingstone,  are  as 
household  words.  Benefactors  of  the  ages,  their 
memory  is  as  ointment  poured  forth.  For  the 
beauty  and  benedictions  of  their  lives  the  world 
acknowledges  its  obligations  to  a  patient,  well-dis- 
ciplined spirit  of  investigation. 

That  this  spirit  may  be  introduced  into  the  realm 
of  religious  thought  none  can  deny.  "All  Script- 
ure is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable 
for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness."  These  things  are  to  be  in 
our  hearts,  and  we  are  to  teach  them  diligently  to 
our  children.  The  Bible  belongs  to  the  world,  and 
should  be  studied,  and  may  be  understood.  It  does 
not  shun,  but  seeks,  investigation.  The  practice  of 
it  supposes  search  and  a  right  understanding.  He 
who  discourages  this  search  is  unlike  Jesus  and  the 
apostles.  The  priest  or  Church — though  Rome  her- 


PHILIP'S  PHILOSOPHY.  77 

self  should  grow  so  arrogant — that  locks  up  these 
sacred  truths,  and  withholds  their  light  from  the 
masses,  is  an  apostate  from  the  faith,  no  friend  to 
Jesus — an  enemy  to  all  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

2.  How  far  may  these  inquiries  be  indulged? 
Lest  our  meaning  be  lost  in  words,  we  answer,  As 
far  as  human  intellect  and  things  revealed  will  al- 
low. Beyond  the  former  we  cannot  go.  Any  effort, 
yea,  even  wish,  to  transcend  the  latter  is  impious  and 
profane.  The  two  were  made  for  each  other,  and  are 
in  happy  harmony.  Taken  together,  they  illustrate 
the  unity  of  God,  and  the  divine  philosophy  that 
pervades  the  world.  To  be  loyal  and  normal,  mind 
must  respect  revelation  as  revelation  respected  mind. 
Harmony  must  continue.  Long  ago  the  question 
was  asked,  "  Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God? " 
"Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  to  perfection?" 
and  there  was  but  one  response — "The  world  by 
wisdom  knew  not  God."  What  is  true  of  God  is 
true  of  all  the  fundamental  doctrines.  Familiar  as 
we  are  with  the  Apostles'  Creed,  what  unsealed 
heights  it  contains!  what  fields  yet  unexplored! 
Where  God  leads  and  lights  the  way  we  can  go — 
not  beyond.  In  the  nature  of  the  case  we  know 
but  in  part.  A  unit  cannot  compass  a  million. 

We  speak  of  limitations.  God's  revelation  every- 
where regards  man  as  man.  Man's  ability  and  in- 
ability receive  equal  and  proper  emphasis.  Both 
are  visible  in  the  facts  that  God  made  revelation, 
and  that  this  revelation  proceeds  as  far  as  it  does, 
and  pauses  at  the  proper  place.  Somewhat  of  its 
grand  truths,  so  much  as  is  said,  I  can  comprehend; 


78  INQUIRY    AND    INVITATION;    OR, 

but  each  truth  can  spring  a  thousand  questions  I 
cannot  answer.  Had  it  been  possible,  and  had  God 
revealed  all  the  modes  by  which  these  truths  exist; 
all  the  reasons  affecting  the  existence  of  each;  all 
their  connections  and  dependencies,  arid  all  the 
philosophy  of  any  thing  the  adorable  Trinity  has 
said  or  done  for  us,  such  a  revelation  would  have 
bewildered  the  world. 

But  such  is  not  the  case.  Heaven  sees  us  as  we 
are,  not  as  we  pretend  or  presume  to  be.  What  is 
needful,  and  admits  of  comprehension,  God  reveals. 
What  is  speculative,  and  beyond  our  capacity,  he 
wisely  withholds. 

There  may  be  other  reasons  for  the  restriction. 
In  placing  facts  above  philosophy,  no  doubt  great 
moral  ends  were  subserved.  As  a  creature,  man 
was  under  a  government  which  supposed  probation, 
and  extended  to  all  the  powers  that  make  up  a  free 
moral  agent.  To  make  this  rule  successful,  to  edu- 
cate, purify,  and  save  this  subject,  a  revelation  must 
needs  appeal  to  more  than  his  intellect.  Faith  has 
a  function,  and  so  have  hope,  humility,  patience, 
and  love.  All  these  are  to  be  trained  and  tried;  and, 
in  doing  this,  what  better  methods  than  those  fur- 
nished by  the  callings  and  conflicts  of  this  life?  Do 
men  complain  that  revelation  does  not  declare  all? 
that  it  does  not  compel  faith,  but  leaves  room  for 
doubt?  Do  they  reject  it  because  they  cannot  solve 
every  thing  suggested  by  revealed  facts?  If  so,  they 
are  in  arms  against  probation,  and  all  around  them 
other  books,  systems,  kingdoms,  objects,  atoms, 
have  their  fastnesses  which  human  power  cannot 


PHILIP'S  PHILOSOPHY.  79 

penetrate.  As  in  this  department  we  are  exercised 
for  our  good,  so  in  the  other  "tribulation  worketh 
patience,  and  patience  experience,  and  experience 
hope,  and  hope  maketh  not  ashamed,  because  -the 
love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the 
Holy  Ghost." 

For  one,  we  are  sick  of  the  senseless  cry  of 
"Mystery!  mystery!  nobody  can  understand  the 
Bible."  It  is  a  reflection  on  its  divine  Author,  and 
not  honoring  to  man.  The  difficulty  is  not  in  the 
book,  but  in  a  want  of  proper  study.  Take  it  as  it 
is — a  publication  of  facts — and  we  have  the  plainest, 
best-established,  most  beautifully-illustrated  book 
in  the  world.  No  doctrine  is  incomprehensible,  no 
precept  impracticable,  no  promise  precarious.  All 
may  be  seen,  illustrated,  and  enjoyed. 

3.  With  what  spirit  should  these  inquiries  pro- 
ceed? "If  thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body 
shall  be  full  of  light.  But  if  thine  eye  be  evil,  thy 
whole  body  shall  be  full  of  darkness."  In  pursuing 
the  truth,  care  should  be  taken  to  ascertain  all  that 
may  cause  us  to  stumble.  Should  indifference,  vain 
conceit,  prejudice,  previous  opinion,  or  evil  in- 
tent, prove  a  hinderance,  it  should  be  put  away. 
More:  "If  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out."  As 
ancient  Israel,  consulting  Urim  and  Thummim,  put 
away  uncleanness,  and  presented  the  required  offer- 
ings, in  like  manner  must  we  knock  at  the  door  of 
truth.  The  sacred  awe  and  reverent  posture  that 
transfixed  and  transformed  Moses,  as  the  first  beam 
from  the  burning  bush  fell  on  his  astonished  gaze, 
should  be  seen  in  all  who  would  know  more  of  the 


80  INQUIRY    AND   INVITATION;    OR, 

deep  things  of  God.  These  are  his  truths — from 
him,  by  him,  for  him.  From  such  a  source,  con- 
veyed to  us  through  the  flesh  of  the  Only-begotten, 
waiting  to  be  crystallized  in  the  songs  and  hallelu- 
jahs of  the  saved,  no  wonder  angels  desire  to  look 
into  these  things.  Ranged  about  the  throne,  they 
rejoice  in  the  simplest  edict  that  calls  a  human  be- 
ing to  worship  or  work.  If  we  would  be  like  them, 
if  we  would  grow  in  knowledge,  we  must  imitate 
their  reverence  and  humility. 

But  this  is  not  all.  So  far  no  real  step  has  been 
taken.  The  labor,  though  not  lost,  is  chiefly  pre-r 
paratory.  With  the  mind  thus  cleared,  some  one 
must  be  seen  who  can  say,  "  We  have  found  him" — 
some  Philip  who,  taking  the  honest  inquirer  by  the 
hand,  will  lead  him  to  a  loftier  plane  and  larger 
enjoyment.  And  this  introduces  our  second  prop- 
osition. 

II.  The  greatest  truths  of  our  holy  religion — 
Nazareth's  substantial  good — are  apprehended,  not 
by  logical  process,  but  by  personal  approach  and 
individual  experience. 

We  say  the  greatest  truths,  without  reflecting  on 
any  part  of  the  inspired  volume.  The  gospel  con- 
tains no  unimportant  fact — all  are  edifying.  By  the 
greatest  we  mean  fundamental  doctrines. 

Our  reference  to  "logical  process"  should  not  be 
construed  into  an  assault  on  real  science,  advanced 
education,  high  culture.  The  ability  to  pursue  a 
train  of  thought,  embellish  and  enforce  it,  has  a  price 
above  rubies.  Nor  should  it  be  confined  to  acade- 
mies, Congress,  and  Parliament.  The  parent,  man 


PHILIP'S  PHILOSOPHY.  81 

of  business,  Sunday-school  teacher,  and  embassador 
of  Jesus,  cannot  be  too  highly  endowed.  Exhorta- 
tion may  fire  a  field-piece,  but  it  requires  trained 
thought  to  forge,  bring  into  position,  and  give  aim 
to  these  weapons  of  war. 

Important,  however,  as  training  is,  it  is  not  the 
great  requisite.  This  is  found  in  Philip's  philoso- 
phy. How  wise  he  was!  When  Nathanael  would 
find  the  chief  good,  he  engaged  him  in  no  contro- 
versy; nor  did  he  remand  him  to  a  metaphysical 
treatise  on  the  "isms  and  ologies"  of  the  day;  but, 
like  a  well-instructed  scribe,  he  found  in  "  come  and 
see"  a  more  excellent  way.  Concise,  direct,  suffi- 
cient, it  recognized  the  fact  that  the  hearer  had  no 
time  to  lose,  and  the  preacher  no  vanity  to  indulge. 
It  enthroned  the  idea  that  motion  toward  Christ  is 
worth  a  thousand  dry  discussions  about  the  "  absolute  " 
and  "  infinite."  With  Philip,  doing  was  better  than 
thinking.  The  one  was  a  mere  path  that  might  find 
the  highway,  but  the  other  was  the  royal  road  lead- 
ing to  real  attainment  and  rich  adornment.  No 
wonder  he  said,  "Come,"  enlist  head  and  heart, 
hands,  feet,  all — nothing  can  substitute  approach, 
contact,  and  consecration. 

It  is  no  arrogance  to  say  this  should  be  the  prac- 
tice of  every  minister  and  all  Churches.  At  a  time 
when  infidel  publications  flood  the  world,  and  the 
cry  of  "  mystery  "  falls  on  every  ear,  the  little  ones 
who  cannot  come  to  Christ  should  be  carried  in  the 
arms  of  the  Church,  and  adults,  already  perplexed, 
should  be  started  into  action  toward  him.  "  If  the 
trumpet  give  an  uncertain  sound,  who  shall  pre- 
4* 


82  INQUIRY    AND    INVITATION;    OR, 

pare  himself  to  battle  ?  "  Can  we  do  better  than 
fill  the  world's  ear  with  the  stirring  strains  of  Phil- 
ip's philosophy?  We  cannot,  if  our  proposition  is 
true. 

1.  Let  us  test  it  by  the  Scriptures.  The  author 
of  the  seventy-third  Psalm,  speaking  of  his  experi- 
ence, says:  "My  steps  had  well-nigh  slipped,  for  I 
was  envious  at  the  foolish,  when  I  saw  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  wicked.  When  I  thought  to  know  this 
[the  knowledge  of  God's  purpose],  it  was  too  pain- 
ful for  me,  until  I  went  into  the  sanctuary  of  God; 
then  understood  I  their  end.  Thou  shalt  guide  me 
with  thy  counsel,  and  afterward  receive  me  to  glory. 
My  flesh  and  my  heart  faileth;  but  God  is  the 
strength  of  my  heart,  and  my  portion  forever." 
The  congregations  of  the  great  Teacher  were  not 
unlike  ours.  Comprehend  the  deep  spirituality  of 
the  law  they  did  not,  but  rather  made  it  void 
through  their  traditions.  How  the  Master  pitied 
them!  How  his  heart  was  moved  as  he  saw  them 
bending  under  "burdens  which  neither  they  nor 
their  fathers  were  able  to  bear! "  Standing  in  their 
midst,  stretching  out  his  arms,  the  Prince  of  com- 
passion cries,  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and 
are  heavy-laden.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn 
of  me;  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls." 
Take  another  picture.  The  scene  is  laid  in  Jerusa- 
lem. It  was  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  "  Now  about 
the  midst  of  the  feast  Jesus  went  up  into  the  temple 
and  taught.  And  the  Jews  marveled,  saying,  How 
knoweth  this  man  letters,  having  never  learned? 
Jesus  answered  them,  My  doctrine  is  not  mine,  but 


PHILIP'S  PHILOSOPHY.  83 

his  that  sent  me.      If  any  man  will  do  his  will  he 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine." 

Turn  we  to  Saul  of  Tarsus,  sitting  at  the  feet  of 
Gamaliel.  What  opportunities  for  knowing  the 
truth!  Who  can  predict  that  this  conscientious 
soul,  consecrated  to  the  study  of  the  learned  expo- 
sitions around  him,  will  ever  count  them  "  as  loss 
for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus?"  Alas!  sitting  at  Gamaliel's  feet  left  him 
far  from  truth — from  Jesus — the  same  blind,  big- 
oted, blood-thirsty  Saul  of  Tarsus.  St.  Luke  records 
the  story  of  his  progress.  Somewhere  between  Je- 
rusalem and  Damascus  he  realizes  the  necessity  of 
learning  himself,  and  getting  to  and  into  Jesus  Christ. 
By  some  means  he  recognizes  the  voice  of  that 
Christ,  saying,  "  If  any  man  will  be  my  disciple,  let 
him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross."  It  is 
enough.  He  begins  to  do  by  praying,  "  Lord,  what 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ? "  The  sequel  we  know. 
His  after-life — a  living  epistle  known  and  honored 
by  all — we  need  not  detail.  Let  Paul  speak:  "I 
neither  received  it  of  men,  nor  was  I  taught  it 
but  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ — it  pleased 
God  to  reveal  his  Son  in  me."  His  life  accorded 
with  his  experience.  Ever  afterward  he  cautioned 
the  Churches  against  philosophy,  vain  deceit,  and 
the  rudiments  of  this  world.  To  him,  as  Meander, 
"  the  heart  was  the  best  theologian."  With  him, 
the" great  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  the  gospel  was 
moral  obliquity.  Of  the  gospel  he  was  not  ashamed, 
for  therein  is  the  righteousness  of  God  revealed. 
If  hid,  "  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost,  in  whom 


84  INQUIRY   AND    INVITATION;    OB, 

the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of 
them  that  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious 
gospel  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  should 
shine  unto  them."  "  To  this  man  will  I  look — even 
to  him  that  is  poor,  and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and 
trembleth  at  my  word."  "  The  secret  of  the  Lord 
is  with  them  that  fear  him;  and  he  will  show  them 
his  covenant." 

2.  Tried  by  the  soundest  philosophy — common 
sense  —  and  Philip's  philosophy  holds  good.  A 
visit  to  a  place  modifies  our  opinion  of  that  place. 
Reading  men  at  a  distance  is  a  slow,  uncertain  proc-> 
ess.  Approach,  spirit-communion,  correct  our  prej- 
udices and  change  our  estimate.  Merchandise 
ordered  is  not  so  satisfactory  as  stocks  selected. 
Matrimonial  alliances  conducted  by  telegraph  have 
a  spice  of  novelty,  and  create  a  sensation,  but  sel- 
dom bring  the  glowing  sunshine  and  unmixed  sweet- 
ness of  married  life.  These  are  most  apt  to  flow 
from  the  lifted  latch,  quiet  approach,  gentle  rap,  and 
soft-sitting  sofa,  where  eye  speaks  to  eye,  and  each 
heart  fancies  it  hears  the  throbbings  of  the  other. 

The  praise  of  practice  is  on  the  lips  of  every  pro- 
fession. Great  masters  in  science,  poetry,  diplomacy, 
and  war,  were  men  who  moved  up — doers,  and  not 
idle  dreamers.  The  pen,  chisel,  plane,  plow,  sword 
— grasped  and  in  motion — are  more  potent  for  the 
solution  of  difficulties,  and  more  prolific  of  results, 
than  those  locked  up  or  idle  at  our  side.  Nothing 
is  equal  to  taking  hold  of  a  thing.  Contact  brings 
inspiration  and  strength.  This  is  the  philosophy 
of  invitations  to  the  altar.  On  this  principle  a  sin- 


PHILIP'S  PHILOSOPHY.  85 

ner  that  will  comply  with  some  proposition — move 
in  some  direction,  however  slight  the  motion — may 
be  called  hopeful;  but  one  that  stands  aloof,  stands 
still — exeepts  to  every  thing,  and  does  nothing — places 
himself  where  his  personal  salvation  would  vio- 
late the  laws  of  common  sense  and  revealed  re- 
ligion. 

We  cannot  conclude  this  branch  of  the  subject 
without  emphatic  reference  to  the  world's  folly.  In 
matters  trivial,  compared  with  the  interests  of  the 
soul,  how  many  try  every  issue!  Here  they  bring 
their  batteries,  collect  crucible  and  chemical,  and 
exhaust  every  energy;  but  in  things  that  aftect  their 
souls — the  -great,  .green,  fresh  forever — how  many 
occupy  the  seat  of  the  scoruer  and  skeptic,  and  de- 
cline Bible-reading,  prayer,  and  every  thing  that 
might  better  them  or  confirm  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity! To  all  such  we  would  say,  This  system  is 
true  or  false.  If  true,  it  is  graciously  yet  fearfully 
true,  and  it  becomes  you  to  avail  yourselves  of  all 
the  blessings  these  truths  impart;  and  you  should 
do  it  at  once,  lest  that  come  upon  you  which  was 
spoken  of  Jerusalem:  "If  thou  hadst  known  in 
this  thy  day  the  things  which  belong  unto  thy 
peace!  but  now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes."  If 
false,  it  is  harmless,  and  as  such  is  unlike  any  other 
falsehood  the  world  ever  saw;  if  false,  the  might- 
iest intellects  have  failed  to  detect  the  sophistry; 
if  false,  no  combination  has  been  able  to  effect  its 
overthrow.  Down  to  this  day  no  sincere  Christian 
has  regretted  his  allegiance;  and  not  one  has  died 
exclaiming  against  his  principles,  and  exhorting  his 


86  INQUIRY   AND   INVITATION;    OR, 

son,  as  did  the  expiring  Altamont,  not  to  follow  his 
footsteps.  But  we  will  not  anticipate. 

III.  The  benefits  flowing  from  an  investigation, 
as  already  foreshadowed,  justify  all  the  expenditures 
involved  in  Christian  life. 

Christianity  brings  with  it  gifts  far  surpassing 
those  the  wise  men  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  world's 
Redeemer.  As  a  system  of  doctrines,  it  is  instinct 
with  authority, beauty,  certainty,  harmony,  bespeak- 
ing its  divine  origin,  and  proclaiming  it  unique  and 
unrivaled.  In  the  light  of  this  blazing  constella- 
tion the  world  deciphers  its  high-born  parentages, 
the  source  of  evil,  the  remedy  of  the  lapsed,  the 
path  of  life,  and  the  changeless  destinies  to  come. 
Far  removed  from  atheism,  fate,  materialism,  it 
dignifies  the  soul,  and  would  elevate  it  to  associa- 
tions and  employments  angelic  and  endless. 

Its  worship  of  denial  and  duty,  prayer  and  praise 
— no  mean  exercise  should  hereafter  prove  a  fable — 
is  a  fit  acknowledgment  of  our  dependence,  and  a 
nearer  approach  to  those  loftier  intelligences  who 
find  ecstatic  joy  in  tributes  of  thanksgiving  to  "  the 
only  wise  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ." 

Its  incomparable  morals  command  the  admiration 
of  the  ages.  Beneath  their  sheltering  wings  fami- 
lies repose  in  safety,  society  dwells  secure,  and  na- 
tions find  a  bulwark  unknown  to  bristling  guns  and 
frowning  fleets. 

But  these  benefits  are  not  confined  to  homes,  com- 
munities, and  commonwealths.  The  kingdom  of 
which  we  speak  corneth  not  with  observation;  it  is 
a  kingdom  within  you.  Its  benefits  are  personal, 


PHILIP'S  PHILOSOPHY.  87 

spiritual,  saving.  To  one  properly  testing  these 
truths  there  arises  a  stability  of  sentiment,  and  a 
sweet  serenity  of  soul,  not  unlike  that  which  comes 
to  him  who,  long  tossed  on  some  uncertain  sea,  sees 
the  distant  land.  Long  driven  here  and  there,  the 
sport  of  every  wave,  now  he  finds  a  footing  on  his 
native  shore,  and  smiles  adieu  to  ocean-fears.  He 
who  effects  a  landing  on  credenda  of  the  Nazarene, 
finds  "  solid  rock — and  all  is  sea  beside." 

Did  Christianity  pause  here,  and  do  no  more  than 
aft'ord  an  anchorage  for  the  world's  faith,  who  does 
not  see  in  that  ample  remuneration  for  all  the  thought 
and  effort  expended?  Improved  self-respect,  born 
of  a  consciousness  that  we  have  a  faith,  and  are  no 
longer  "  like  a  wave  of  the  sea,  driven  with  the  wind 
and  tossed,"  is  worth  thousands  of  gold  and  silver. 

But  creed  and  stability  of  soul  are  not  all  man 
needs,  or  Nazareth  affords.  He  must  have  some- 
thing to  restore  his  relations,  return  forfeited  estate, 
witness  his  enrichment,  guide  his  goings,  sanctify 
his  labors,  losses,  and  life,  stand  by  his  dying  couch, 
and  bid  him  "  Go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be;  for 
thou  shalt  rest,  and  stand  in  thy  lot  at  the  end  of 
the  days."  Vast  as  are  these  requirements,  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  is  equal  to  all.  "  In  him  dwelleth  all 
the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily."  He  "  by  the 
grace  of  God  tasted  death  for  every  man."  "  He  that 
spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for 
us  all,  how  shall  he  not  with  him  also  freely  give  us 
all  things?"  Already  multitudes  have  been  justi- 
fied and  adopted  into  the  family  of  God.  "And 
because  ye  are  sons,  God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit 


88  INQUIRY   AND   INVITATION. 

of  his  Son  into  your  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father." 
Living,  they  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ; 
dying,  they  sing, 

Jesus  can  make  a  dying-bed 

Feel  soft  as  downy  pillows  are, 
While  on  his  breast  I  lean  my  head, 

And  breathe  my  life  out  sweetly  there. 

What  a  cloud  of  witnesses  compass  us  about!  They 
are  from  the  north,  south,  east,  and  west.  Among 
them  are  those  who  loved  and  prayed  for  us. 
Throned  and  harped,  they  speak  to  you  and  me. 
From  every  cliff  of  glory  these  voices  come.  There 
is  no  discord.  There  is  but  one  message,  and  that 
is,  "  Come  and  see." 

Gentle  reader,  accept  the  invitation;  approach, 
and  dismiss  your  doubts;  see  and  live,  and  live  for- 
ever! 


VT. 

THE  THINGS  PREPARED  FOR  THEM 
THAT  LOVE  GOD. 

BY  THE  REV.  LINUS  PARKER,  D.D., 

Louisiana  Conference. 

:t  But  as  it  is  written,  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him.  But  God  hath 
revealed  them  unto  us  by  his  Spirit."  1  Cor.  ii.  9,  10. 

THIS  passage  is  quoted  substantially  from  Isaiah, 
illustrating  what  the  apostle  means  by  "  comparing 
spiritual  things  with  spiritual."  The  product  is  a 
sort  of  double  inspiration,  and  the  authority  irre- 
sistible. Through  Isaiah  and  Paul  a  great  truth  is 
declared.  In  this  case  it  has  to  do  with  something 
exceedingly  momentous,  and  relates  to  that  which 
is  most  vital  in  doctrine  and  experience. 

I.   The  things  prepared  of  God. 

A  clew  to  these  may  be  obtained  by  reference  to 
the  words  of  the  prophet:  "  For  since  the  beginning 
of  the  world  men  have  not  heard,  nor  perceived  by 
the  ear,  neither  hath  the  eye  seen,  O  God,  besides 
thee,  what  he  hath  prepared  for  him  that  waiteth 
for  him.  Thou  meetest  him  that  rejoiceth  and 
worketh  righteousness,  those  that  remember  thee 
in  thy  ways."  Manifestly  the  things  in  the  proph- 
et's mind  were  spiritual,  such  special  blessings  of 

(89) 


90  THE    THINGS   PREPARED 

grace  and  providence  as  are  prepared  for  them  that 
wait  on  God.  The  drift  of  the  apostle's  discourse, 
and  the  whole  connection,  limit  the  things  prepared 
to  the  gospel  and  its  privileges,  the  revelations  of 
truth  by  it,  and  a  spiritual  and  supernatural  experi- 
ence of  its  benefits.  They  are  "the  things  of  God," 
"  the  deep  things  of  God,"  "  the  things  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,"  that  "  which  none  of  the  princes  of  this 
world  knew."  There  is  in  all  this  no  direct  allusion 
to  the  marvels  of  the  future  life,  none  to  the  heav- 
enly glory.  Grace  finally  ripens  into  glory,  and 
that  glorified  state  is  something  wondrous  fair,  and 
beautiful  beyond  conception,  transcending  all  we 
have  seen,  or  heard,  or  imagined.  But  the  language 
of  the  text  describes  the  present  experience  of  the 
child  of  God.  They  are  things  now  felt,  realized, 
possessed.  It  is  a  present  salvation  through  faith, 
and  what  is  revealed  by  the  Spirit  in  the  believing 
heart;  for,  what  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  God 
hath  revealed  unto  us  by  his  Spirit.  These  won- 
derful things,  if  anywhere,  are  in  the  heart,  and 
manifested  to  the  loving  soul. 

They  are  described  as  things  "  which  God  hath  pre- 
pared." The  gospel  is  of  God.  Neither  angels,  men, 
nor  devils,  could  have  been  the  authors  of  it.  The 
moral  evidences  are  sufficient.  Whatever  may  be 
the  weight  of  prophecy  and  miracles,  to  us  the  more 
direct  and  convincing  proof  is  in  the  divine  teach- 
ing, in  the  person  and  character  of  Christ,  and  in 
the  power  of  the  gospel  to  save,  to  change  the  heart, 
and  to  reform  the  conduct.  The  world,  with  all  its 


FOR   THEM    THAT   LOVE    GOD.  91 

wisdom,  and  learning,  and  philosophy,  could  never 
have  produced  the  Bible  or  invented  Christ.  Sal- 
vation is  of  God — the  plan  is  his — the  execution  of 
the  plan,  and  all  the  doctrines  connected  with  it,  are 
of  God.  It  is  the  wisdom  of  God,  distasteful  to  the 
wisdom  of  men,  and  infinitely  above  the  grasp  of 
human  reason. 

The  blessings  of  the  gospel  are  "things  pre- 
pared." In  the  most  obvious  sense  of  being  ar- 
ranged beforehand,  "which  God  ordained  before 
the  world  unto  our  glory,"  here  is  the  foreknowing 
and  the  predestinating — the  preparing  of  salvation 
for  a  race  that,  in  the  divine  presence,  had  fallen 
into  sin,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God.  The 
ideal  of  grace  existed  before  the  actual  catastrophe. 
It  goes  back  into  the  abyss  of  eternity,  and  into  the 
depths  of  the  preexistence  of  the  Son  of  God.  It 
was  "  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery,  even  the 
hidden  wisdom."  It  was  long  preparing;  how  long 
we  cannot  tell.  But  before  the  world  it  was  or- 
dained. The  universe,  in  all  its  vast  and  remote 
economies,  the  divine  government,  and  the  work  of 
creation,  were  all  adjusted  with  reference  to  the 
plan  of  redemption,  and  the  rescue  of  a  ruined 
world.  Noah  prepared  the  ark  for  the  saving  of 
his  house — a  preparation  extending  through  more 
than  a  century.  David,  with  lavish  expenditure 
and  almost  incredible  industry,  prepared  for  the 
building  of  the  temple.  On  a  grander  scale,  and 
with  a  sweep  sublime  in  its  vastriess,  God  has  pre- 
pared the  blessings  of  salvation  for  them  that  love 
him,  "even  the  mystery  which  hath  been  hid  from 


92  THE    THINGS   PREPARED 

ages  and  from  generations,  but  now  is  made  mani- 
fest to  his  saints." 

The  things  were  prepared  in  the  kindred  sense  of 
being  stored  up  and  held  in  reservation.  As  Joseph 
prepared  against  the  famine  in  Egypt  by  filling  the 
granaries,  and  laying  up  for  the  time  of  dearth,  so 
it  may  be  said  that  God  has  prepared  for  human  sin 
and  woe.  The  store-house  of  grace  is  full.  The 
means  of  meeting  the  terrible  outburst  of  sin  are 
at  hand,  and  ready.  As  God  in  his  providence  has 
stored  up  coal  and  oil  for  our  comfort,  and  all  min- 
eral treasure  for  the  benefit  of  men,  so  has  he  pre- 
pared these  spiritual  things.  They  are  things  pre- 
pared, the  remedy  for  the  disease  that  preys  upon 
us,  the  provisions  which  our  desperate  condition 
calls  for.  "  Thou  meetest  him  that  rejoiceth,  and 
worketh  righteousness."  A  Saviour  is  ready  for  the 
lost,  a  sin-oftering  is  at  the  door,  the  light  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  meets  the  soul  at  the  dawn  of  conscious- 
ness. 

Since  before  the  world,  and  through  all  the  ages 
and  generations,  God  has  been  arranging  for  and 
providing  the  things  of  salvation.  That  they  are 
thus  prepared  of  God,  ordained  before  the  world 
unto  our  glory,  indicates  the  surpassing  excellence 
of  them.  God  has  been  occupied  about  them,  and 
bringing  them  to  perfection.  His  power,  wisdom, 
and  love,  are  displayed  in  redemption  as  these  attri- 
butes could  never  have  been  exhibited  in  material 
creations.  In  the  fact  of  the  divine  preparation  we 
see  how  wonderful  these  things  must  be,  and  how 
exalted  the  privilege  of  believers,  "  to  whom  God 


FOR   THEM   THAT   LOVE    GOD.  93 

would  make  known  what  is  the  riches  of  the  glory 
of  this  mystery  among  the  Gentiles,  which  is  Christ 
in  you,  the  hope  of  glory."  The  feast,  long  in  pre- 
paring, is  ready;  it  is  a  royal  spread  of  all  that  the 
heart  hungers  for,  a  munificent  provision,  and  the 
invitation  is,  Come,  for  "  all  things  are  now  ready." 

II.  The  things  prepared  revealed  to  the  heart  by  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

They  are  not  revealed  through  the  physical  senses. 
"  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard."  These  and 
other  senses  connect  us  with  the  outer  and  material 
world,  but  they  cannot  of  themselves  put  us  in  con- 
nection with  the  things  of  God.  The  eye  cannot 
see  God — it  cannot  take  in  spiritual  forms.  The 
ear  cannot  hear  the  divine  voice. 

Nor  have  these  spiritual  things  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man.  The  world  by  wisdom  knew  not 
God.  None  of  the  princes  of  this  world  knew  the 
hidden  wisdom.  Whether  princes  of  the  Jewish 
hierarchy,  the  princes  of  worldly  power  and  domin- 
ion, or  the  princes  of  thought  and  learning,  this  was 
something  beyond  their  grasp.  Taken  for  the  rea- 
soning faculties,  or  for  the  sensibilities,  for  the  imagi- 
nation and  the  affections,  it  is  still  true  that  the  things 
prepared  have  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man. 

Sense  and  reason,  apart  from  the  supernatural 
work  of  the  Spirit  in  the  heart,  have  never  been 
able  to  comprehend  spiritual  things.  They  are  be- 
yond the  reach  of  the  senses,  and  above  the  unaided 
reason  of  men.  No  glimpse  of  them  comes  to  the 
eye,  no  echo  of  them  to  the  ear,  no  conception  of 
them  ever  reaches  the  heart  of  the  natural  man. 


94  THE    THINGS    PREPARED 

He  can  take  in  the  sublimities  and  beauties  of  land- 
scape, enjoy  the  harmony  and  melody  of  music,  and 
revel  in  the  fields  of  poetry  and  science,  but  he 
knows  nothing  of  spiritual  things. 

The  things  of  the  Spirit  must  be  made  plain  to 
us  by  the  direct  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
heart.  "  But  God  hath  revealed  them  unto  us  by 
his  Spirit."  The  word  inspired  is  not  sufficient  in 
itself.  There  must  also  be  a  revealing  Spirit,  to 
open  the  blind  eyes,  and  to  unstop  the  deaf  ears, 
and  to  shine  into  the  dark  and  sinful  soul.  The 
gospel  was  not  understood  by  the  apostles  till  the 
Pentecostal  baptism.  Christ  was  to  be  glorified  by 
the  Spirit.  "He  shall  glorify  me;  for  he  shall  take 
of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you."  We  are  ab- 
solutely dependent  upon  the  aid  of  the  Spirit  to 
apprehend  Christ  truly  and  savingly,  and  to  grasp 
any  spiritual  truth  whatever.  The  natural  man  is 
spiritually  blind,  and  he  "  receiveth  not  the  things 
of  the  Spirit  of  God;  for  they  are  foolishness  unto 
him;  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are 
spiritually  discerned."  The  Bible  is  largely  a  sealed 
book  until  the  Spirit  comes  to  us  with  this  inner 
revelation,  until  he  shines  upon  the  sacred  page, 
and  floods  the  heart  with  a  divine  light.  The  gos- 
pel is  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery  to  every 
reader  and  hearer  until  the  Spirit  opens  the  eyes  of 
the  understanding.  The  Spirit  must  take  of  Christ, 
and  show  it  unto  us.  No  matter  how  plain  the 
word  maybe,  how  clear  the  teaching,  neither  senses 
nor  reason  can  comprehend  without  the  aid  of  the 
Spirit.  The  divine  Healer  must  touch  the  sightless 


FOR   THEM    THAT   LOVE   GOD.  95 

eye,  and  utter  the  powerful  "  Ephphatha,"  before  we 
can  see,  or  hear,  or  comprehend. 

We  were  once  in  a  blind  asylum  on  a  'visit. 
There  were  none  but  the  blind  there.  But  the  in- 
mates were  moving  about  as  if  they  could  see.  A 
lady  was  playing  on  the  piano,  and  others  were  en- 
gaged in  conversation.  In  the  beautiful  grounds 
without  boys  were  at  play,  seemingly  intent  on  their 
sports,  running,  leaping,  and  laughing.  It  was  not 
easy  to  realize  that  the  world  of  light,  of  color,  of 
form,  the  bright  flowers,  the  luxuriant  shrubbery, 
the  blue  sky,  and  the  green  earth,  were  all  a  blank 
to  them.  There  was  the  noonday  sun,  and  all  the 
brightness  of  a  perfect  day,  but  the  world  was  dark 
to  them.  Thus,  in  a  world  of  light,  with  the  open 
Bible  before  us,  with  the  gospel  sounding  in  our 
ears,  there  is  spiritual  darkness  because  we  are 
spiritually  blind.  The  need  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
absolute  need,  is  emphasized  here.  David's  prayer 
must  be  ours:  "Open  thou  mine  e}res,  that  I  may 
behold  wondrous  things  out  of  thy  law."  "Lord, 
that  I  might  receive  my  sight,"  should  be  the  cry 
of  the  dark  and  benighted  soul.  Our  prophesy- 
ing must  be  in  this  felt  dependence  upon  the  Spirit: 
"  Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and  breathe 
upon  these  slain,  that  they  may  live." 

The  things  prepared  are  revealed  by  the  Spirit  in 
Christian  experience.  "Now  we  have  received,  not 
the  spirit  of  the  world,  but  the  Spirit  which  is  of 
God,  that  we  might  know  the  things  that  are  freely 
given  to  us  of  God."  Nicodemus  could  know  noth- 
ing of  them;  he  could  neither  see  nor  enter  the 


96  THE   THINGS   PREPARED 

kingdom  until  born  again.  In  conversion,  the  light 
breaks  upon  the  soul.  In  penitence  and  prayer, 
and  In  humble  trust,  the  riches  of  grace  pour  into 
the  hungering  and  thirsting  heart.  The  cross  is 
illuminated,  Christ  is  apprehended,  and  the  great 
plan  of  mercy  stands  out  in  its  symmetry  and  maj- 
esty, radiant  with  divine  wisdom  and  love.  It  is 
out  of  darkness  into  God's  "marvelous  light." 
Even  outward  nature  seems  transfigured  to  the 
new-born  soul.  There  is  a  new  earth.  The  inward 
glory  invests  nature  with  a  shining  livery,  and 
clothes  the  entire  outer  world  with  a  new  and  pe- 
culiar beauty.  Surely,  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard,  neither  has  entered  into  the  heart  of  man, 
any  thing  that  approaches  the  peace,  the  rest,  the 
raptures  of  the  soul  that  feels  the  unutterable  bless- 
edness of  sins  forgiven. 

And  the  things  prepared  unfold  more  and  more 
as  experience  advances.  Peace  at  length  passes 
understanding,  there  is  "joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory,"  and  as  the  soul  presses  on  to  know  the 
love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge,  it  is  "  filled 
with  all  the  fullness  of  God."  How  inexplicable  to 
human  reason,  to  all  ordinar}T  human  experience,  is 
the  grace  that  sustains  the  Christian  in  suffering, 
and  that  brings  holy  triumph  in  the  hour  of  death! 
How  utterly  above  all  natural  reason  the  death  of 
Stephen,  with  his  shining  face,  heavenly  visions, 
and  unconquerable  love!  There  is  in  these  experi- 
ences something  abundantly  supernatural,  some- 
thing transcending  all  that  men  have  seen,  heard, 
or  thought. 


FOR   THEM   THAT    LOVE   GOD.  97 

Grace,  as  a  conflict  and  a  victory,  as  a  period  of 
suffering  made  joyous  by  spiritual  consolation,  as 
a  nature  weak  and  fallen  made  pure  and  holy,  is 
something  very  wonderful.  Can  there  be  any  thing 
surpassing  this  in  heaven?  The  pure  in  heart  see 
God  in  this  world.  Through  this  medium  God  is 
seen  in  his  works,  in  his  providence,  and  as  spirit- 
ually manifested  to  the  eye  of  faith.  Save  what 
heaven  may  be,  there  can  be  nothing  greater.  To 
be  the  sons  of  God,  to  have  the  witnessing  Spirit, 
and  to  realize  that  we  are  heirs  of  God  and  joint- 
heirs  with  Christ,  are  among  the  privileges  of  every 
Christian.  To  unbelievers  the  preaching  of  the 
cross  is  foolishness,  but  to  them  which  believe  it  is 
the  power  of  God.  What  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor 
ear  heard,  nor  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man, 
God  hath  revealed  to  the  humblest  of  his  children. 
His  experience  exceeds  all  that  men  have  seen  or 
imagined. 

III.  The  things  are  prepared  for  them  that  love  God. 
~We  know  that  the  provisions  of  salvation  are  for 
all.  Christ,  by  the  grace  of  God,  tasted  death  for 
every  man.  "For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he 
gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 
Salvation  is  freely  offered  to  all.  The  invitation  is 
to  all  that  labor  and  are  heavy-laden.  "And  the 
Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that 
heareth  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst 
come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water 
of  life  freely."  In  the  divine  intent  there  is  mercy 
for  every  sinner.  God  "  will  have  all  men  to  be 
5 


98  THE   THINGS   PREPARED 

saved,  and  to  come  unto  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth."  This  is  beyond  doubt,  that  the  scope  of 
redemption  takes  in  the  entire  world  of  sinners. 
And  yet  the  things  prepared  can  be  known  and 
possessed  only  by  loving  hearts. 

It  is  only  to  the  eye  of  love  that  they  are  manifest. 
Love  sees  and  hears,  and  receives  into  the  heart, 
what  no  stretch  of  divine  power  can  make  the  prop- 
erty of  unbelief.  Love  itself  is  light,  it  is  divine 
communion,  it  is  peace  and  victory.  It  is  the  vital 
element  in  salvation,  it  is  salvation  realized  in  purity 
of  heart,  and  in  all  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  Love 
only  can  comprehend  love.  It  alone  can  understand 
God.  It  is  something  so  potent  that  "  we  know  that 
all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love 
God."  It  turns  every  thing  into  good.  It  extracts 
the  good  even  from  affliction,  and  compels  tribute 
from  every  thing  within  the  range  of  providence 
arid  grace.  Such  is  its  celestial  armor,  that  nothing 
can  hurt  Love.  It  is  the  one  safe,  invincible,  all-ap- 
propriating grace.  It  outstrips  the  senses,  it  moves 
easily  and  luminously  in  a  plane  higher  than  reason. 
The  things  are  prepared  for  them  that  love  God, 
because  only  love  can  receive  and  apprehend  them. 

And  because  love  only  has  the  capacity  to  enjoy 
them.  They  are  foolishness  to  the  natural  man. 
They  are  offensive  to  him.  Without  love  neither 
grace  nor  heaven  could  be  enjoyed.  God  can  make 
no  soul  happy  without  love.  The  things  prepared 
are  such  as  only  loving  hearts  delight  in;  hence  it 
could  be  no  other  way.  This  is  the  distinguishing 
privilege  and  blessedness  of  love.  All  the  wealth 


FOR   THEM    THAT   LOVE   GOD.  99 

of  the  divine  love,  all  the  riches  of  glory,  all  the 
products  of  the  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy,  are  laid 
at  the  feet  of  Love.  So  it  is  appointed  a  rapture,  an 
insight,  an  inheritance  that  palls  all  other  brightness 
with  its  surpassing  splendors.  What  an  amazing 
declaration,  that  the  things  prepared,  things  employ- 
ing the  hand  and  heart  of  God  before  the  world, 
should  all  be  poured  into  the  soul  opened  in  love  to 
the  light  of  God! 

We  have  kept  back  from  this  exposition  all  direct 
reference  to  the  future  glory.  We  have  been  care- 
ful to  direct  the  application  rather  to  the  present 
experience.  Such  we  believe  to  be  "the  mind  of 
the  Spirit"  in  this  scripture.  We  would,  if  possible, 
magnify  this  matter  of  experience,  the  supernatural 
character  of  it,  and  the  greatness  of  the  blessings  in 
it.  It  is  the  miracle  of  miracles,  as  much  above 
material  miracles  as  soul  and  spirit  are  above  the 
dust  beneath  our  feet.  The  things  prepared  are  in 
the  believing  heart.  They  are  the  present  heritage 
of  God's  children.  We  are  to  look  for  them,  and 
to  find  them,  in  conversion,  in  holiness  of  heart,  in 
growth  in  grace,  and  in  victory  over  the  world. 
And  yet  the  things  prepared  for  them  that  love 
God,  as  felt  and  known  here  in  the  realm  of  grace, 
are  things  immortal.  "  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what 
we  shall  be;  but  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear, 
we  shall  be  like  him;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is." 
In  the  breadth  and  enlargement  of  what  love  now 
enjoys  we  can  begin  to  imagine  what  heaven  will  be. 
If  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man  the  things  that  God 


100      THINGS  PREPAKED  FOR  THEM  THAT  LOVE  GOD. 

hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him  here,  what 
must  not  that  world  of  perfect  day  be?  We  may 
stand  upon  this  Nebo  and  look  across  Jordan,  and 
obtain,  at  least,  a  distant  view  of  the  goodly  land 
of  promise.  From  this  high  place  of  grace  experi- 
enced, of  love,  with  its  clear,  far-sighted  vision,  we 
may  see  the  New  Jerusalem,  and,  standing  in  this 
grace,  we  may  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God. 
The  present  grace  is  the  earnest  and  assurance  that 
"thine  eye  shall  see  the  King  in  his  beauty;  they 
shall  behold  the  land  that  is  very  far  off." 


VII. 

PURE  RELIGION. 

BY  THE  REV.  H.  PEARCE  WALKER,  D.D., 

Kentucky  Conference. 

f'Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father." 
James  i.  27. 

WHILE  all  professing  Christians  believe  that  re- 
ligion is  in  some  sense  divine,  yet  both  the  thing 
itself  and  its  psychological  manifestations  are  vari- 
ously understood.  Upon  both  these,  as  also  upon 
many  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  points,  widely  di- 
vergent, often  contradictory  views  obtain.  Of  two 
or  more  contradictory  theories  some  must  be  false, 
but  not  necessarily  all.  Something  must  be  true, 
else  the  opposite  could  not  exist.  "Wherefore,  the 
effort  to  ascertain  what  is  truth,  as  regards  the  es- 
sential nature  and  manifestations  of  religion,  cannot 
be  a  work  of  supererogation. 

When  we  survey  the  Christian  world,  notwith- 
standing the  points  of  agreement,  it  presents  a 
strange  scene  of  clashing  and  confusion.  That  great 
body  of  Christian  professors  united  in  protesting 
against  the  corruption  and  tyranny  of  Romanism, 
and  in  giving  the  Bible  to  all  the  families  of  man- 
kind in  their  native  tongues,  is  itself  split  up  into 
manifold,  and  in  many  instances  antagonistic,  sects 
and  parties,  each  perhaps  holding  some  grains  of 

001) 


102  PURE    RELIGION. 

truth  covered  up  in  heaps  of  chaff.  To  determine 
the  exact  proportions  of  truth  and  error  in  each 
would  be  difficult,  perhaps  impossible;  not,  howev- 
er, because  truth  is  inscrutable,  but  because  of  our 
partly  necessary,  partly  volitional,  and  partly  adven- 
titious, limitations. 

Whether  this  Babel  of  tongues  and  this  multipli- 
cation of  sects  be  the  better,  or  the  best,  state  of 
things  in  the  present  condition  of  the  race,  judge 
ye;  we  shall  not  undertake  to  decide  this  question; 
still,  may  we  not  be  allowed  to  say  that  it  does  not 
seem  to  be  in  accord  with  the  genius  of  Chris- 
tianity? nor  does  it  favor  the  most  faithful  and  effi- 
cient use  of  means  for  the  conversion  of  mankind. 
From  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  to  the  last  sen- 
tence of  the  Apocalypse,  the  Almighty  seems  to 
have  contemplated  the  most  perfect  unity  of  the 
body  of  Christ;  nor  shall  we  ever  believe  that  Chris- 
tianity is  so  imperfect,  or  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  so 
poor  in  resources,  as  to  make  error  a  necessary  fac- 
tor in  the  success  of  the  gospel  scheme.  I  know 
the  defendant's  plea  by  which  it  is  sought  to  reconr 
cile  the  existence  of  some  hundreds  of  separate,  in- 
dependent, and  fragmentary  bodies  of  Christians 
with  the  teaching  of  revelation;  but  the  reasons 
assigned  seem  to  be  purely  apologetical,  rather  than 
necessary  and  scriptural. 

It  is  true  that,  between  all  these  separate  organic 
bodies  of  professed  Christians,  claiming  to  stand  on 
the  Bible,  there  are  points  of  agreement  as  well  as 
points  of  disagreement.  Between  some,  more — be- 
tween others,  less.  Some  forms  of  Christianity  have 


PURE   RELIGION.  103 

become  quite  exclusive,  placing  all,  or  nearly  all,  the 
other  forms  quite  outside  the  pale  of  the  Christian 
religion;  while  other  bodies  are  latitudinarian,  in- 
cluding all  forms  of  professed  Christianity  as  valid, 
however  widely  sundered  in  doctrinal,  ecclesiastical, 
and  practical  teaching.  At  least  one  of  these  ex- 
tremes must  be  wrong — possibly  both.  The  truth 
may  lie  imbedded  in  the  mean,  with  increasing  de- 
grees of  error  upon  either  side;  or,  it  may  be,  and 
we  believe,  that  there  are  Christians  among  them 
all — even  where  they  belong  to  false  forms  of  Chris- 
tianity. Yet  none,  nor  all,  of  these  facts  can  ever 
pronounce  a  single  one  of  these  forms  to  be  genu- 
ine, or  justify  its  independent  existence.  Questions 
of  this  sort  can  be  settled  by  the  living  oracles 
only. 

However  much  we  may  be  interested  in  knowing 
whether  the  points  of  agreement  and  the  points  of 
disagreement  between  the  various  organic  bodies  of 
Christianity  are  for  the  most  part  essential  or  non- 
essential  to  Christian  experience  and  growth  in 
grace;  whether  some  or  many  of  these  bodies  con- 
tain error  that  maybe  fatal;  or,  whether  most  or 
all  of  them  are  to  be  esteemed  as  having  salt  enough 
to  preserve  them,  are  questions  of  vital  importance, 
which  we  can  commend  only  now  to  the  prayerful 
study  of  every  soul.  But  when  we  approach  ques- 
tions which  relate  directly  to  truths  essential  to  sal- 
vation, the  order  in  which  they  stand  related  each 
to  the  other,  and  the  manner  of  holding  them,  we 
are  in  the  presence  of  vast,  of  momentous,  concerns 
that  ought  not  to  be  passed  lightly  over. 


104  PURE   RELIGION. 

The  tendency  of  this  age  is  latitudinarian.  A  dis- 
position prevails  to  ignore  doctrinal  differences  as 
obstructive  to  improvement  in  practical  godliness, 
or  at  least  to  hold  them  in  private,  and  make  an  out- 
ward show  of  unity  in  spirit.  This  is  due  in  part, 
perhaps,  to  the  recoil  from  the  strait-laced,  hy- 
percritical orthodoxy  of  the  past,  and  partly  to  the 
republican  doctrine  that  men  are  not  to  be  pro- 
scribed for  opinion's  sake.  The  idea  is  already  pop- 
ular that  one  has  the  right  to  believe  what  he  pleases 
— that  it  does  not  matter  what  principles  are  held, 
if  the  life  be  right.  Nothing  could  be  more  false. 
Never  was  the  faithful  advocacy  of  sound  doctrine 
a  bar  to  progress  or  a  hinderance  to  true  unity. 
Never  was  the  advocacy  of  principles,  in  the  Chris- 
tian spirit,  the  enemy  of  justice  and  harmony. 
Truth  is  foe  to  all  that  is  false — the  enemy  of  all 
unrighteousness.  Error  of  the  head  leads  often  to 
wrong-doing.  Men  of  bad  principles  are  men  of 
bad  lives.  Men  without  principles  are  variable,  un- 
reliable, the  dupes  of  error,  open  to  temptation, 
easily  drawn  into  sinks  of  evil.  It  is  false  teaching 
that  men  are  never  to  be  proscribed  for  opinions. 
It  is  false  doctrine  of  the  worst  sort  to  teach  that 
men  have  the  right  to  believe  error — to  believe  all 
things  or  nothing.  Things  different  must  not  be 
confounded.  The  human  mind  often  rushes  from 
one  extreme  to  its  opposite.  Doubtless,  when  re- 
ligion was  a  thing  of  mere  forms  and  creeds,  much 
wrong  was  committed  in  the  name  of  orthodoxy, 
and  harmless  opinions  were  treated  as  crimes.  Still, 
it  does  not  follow  that  one  extreme  is  right  because 


PURE   RELIGION.  105 

the  other  is  wrong;  nor  should  error  be  commended 
because  truth  has  been  abused.  Error  must  be  re- 
futed, denounced,  proscribed.  Wrong-doing  must 
be  condemned.  Truth  and  righteousness  must  be 
maintained.  While  sedulously  guarding  the  doors 
against  the  spirit  of  persecution,  we  must  not  throw 
them  open  to  welcome  error,  nor  close  them  against 
truth  and  justice.  The  apostle  tells  us  to  "contend 
earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints; " 
and  the  history  of  the  past  shows  that  all  our  lib- 
erties have  been  achieved,  under  God's  blessing,  not 
by  the  sacrifice  of  truth,  not  by  compromise  with 
error,  but  by  conflict  with  it. 

I  do  not  undervalue  the  honest  efforts  of  Chris- 
tians to  establish  unity;  I  rejoice  in  it;  only  I  pro- 
test against  all  sham  unity  by  the  sacrifice  of  sound 
doctrines.  I  mean  only  to  warn  the  American  peo- 
ple against  the  false  glare  of  a  mere  formal  frater- 
nity, an  irresponsible  evangelism,  an  apparent  unity 
by  the  compromise  of  truth,  the  effect  of  which  is, 
perhaps,  to  certify  a  dangerous  heresy  to  public  con- 
fidence, and  give  a  passport  to  error  to  corrupt 
the  fountains  and  to  eat  away  the  core  of  vital  god- 
liness. 

Are  we  in  danger  of  forgetting  the  warning  of 
Jesus  against  deceivers — "  wolves  in  sheep's  cloth- 
ing? "  or  that  of  Paul  and  John  against  false  teach- 
ers? Surely  we  cannot  fail  to  know  that  not  all 
who  bear  the  name  Christian  are  entitled  to  the  dis- 
tinction. What  revolting  scenes  have  been  enacted 
in  the  name  of  Christianity!  How  cunning  has 
error  ever  been  to  lift  itself  into  public  favor,  either 
5* 


106  PURE    RELIGION. 

under  the  garb  of  religion,  or  on  the  ground  of  re- 
ligious tolerance!  These  are  the  same  old  tricks 
which  deceivers  have  "  played  oft'  before  high  heav- 
en" upon  mankind  from  the  beginning  of  the  temp- 
tation in  paradise  down  to  the  present  day;  and 
they  are  none  the  less  successful  because  so  old  and 
so  well  known.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them."  Always  ready,  then,  to  recognize  a  disci- 
ple of  Christ  where  differences  of  opinion  exist  on 
many  points,  we  must  be  careful,  nevertheless,  not 
to  indorse  and  encourage  a  "form  of  godliness  with- 
out the  power  thereof,"  from  which  the  apostle  com- 
mands us  to  "turn  away." 

But  viewing  this  subject  in  its  personal  relations, 
we  enter  the  Christian  world  with  questions  like 
these  trembling  on  our  lips,  viz.:  What  is  religion? 
how  shall  I  obtain  it?  and  how  know  that  I  am  re- 
ligious? I  find  myself  in  the  presence  of  three 
massive  systems,  viz.:  Catholicism,  Calvinism,  and 
Arminianism.  The  first  is  founded  on  the  papacy, 
the  second  on  the  eternal  decrees,  the  third  on  the 
universality  of  the  provisions  of  the  atonement  and 
the  free  moral  agency  of  man.  The  answers  they 
give  to  my  questions  are  in  substantial  agreement 
with  the  foundations  on  which  they  rest.  What- 
ever their  views  may  be  as  to  what  religion  as  a 
principle  is,  the  following- is  patent:  with  the  Ro- 
manist there  is  no  salvation  for  me,  unless  I  am 
united  to  the  papacy;  with  the  Calvinist  there  is  no 
salvation  for  me,  unless  I  am  included  in  the  eternal 
decrees  predestinating  me  to  everlasting  life;  with 
the  Arminian  there  is  no  salvation  for  me  without 


PURE    RELIGION.  107 

the  exercise  of  my  free  moral  agency  in  coopera- 
tion with  God's  grace  to  appropriate  to  myself  by 
faith  the  special  benefits  of  the  atonement  of  Christ. 
Here  are  wide  divergences.  But  I  continue  to  pro- 
pound the  inquiry  throughout  all  the  societies  of 
Protestant  Christendom,  What  must  I  do  to  be 
saved  ?  One  tells  me  to  repent;  another  to  confess; 
another  to  believe;  and  another  to  be  immersed. 
Here  I  am  told  that  repentance  and  faith  are  fruits 
of  regeneration;  there  I  am  informed  that  they  are 
precedent,  indispensable  conditions.  One  tells  me 
religion  is  a  gift,  and  I  must  seek  it;  another  assures 
me  it  is  a  work,  and  I  must  do  it;  a  third  declares 
it  to  be  a  state,  and  I  must  enter  into  it  by  an  act 
of  obedience.  Finding  myself  at  the  intersection 
of  so  many  cross-roads  and  sign-boards,  each  pur- 
porting to  be  the  way,  and  to  point  the  way,  what 
confusion,  and  fears,  and  doubts,  must  result!  Fort- 
unate for  me  if,  instead  of  hesitating,  doubting, 
fearing,  and  lingering  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion 
of  this  moral  mist,  which  covers  me  like  the  dense, 
fog  thrown  over  the  shoulders  of  the  mountain,  or 
drawn  like  a  thick  covering  over  the  sleeping  form 
of  the  valley,  I  betake  myself  prayerfully  to  the 
written  word,  and  there  search  with  "trembling 
awe  "  for  the  light  that  shineth  in  darkness.  While 
I  believe  that  there  is  saving  truth  held  by  many  of 
the  Churches  of  this  day,  yet  am  I  satisfied  that,  in 
the  midst  of  these  opposing  views,  many  earnest, 
anxious  souls  are  at  a  loss  to  know  which  way  to 
turn,  or  what  to.  do.  Their  doubts  and  reasonings 
are  aptly  expressed  in  these  lines: 


108  PURE    RELIGION. 

So  many  people,  in  these  latter  days, 
Have  taught  religion  in  so  many  ways, 
That  few  can  tell  which  system  is  the  best; 
For  every  party  contradicts  the  rest. 

Let  us  endeavor  to  ascertain,  in  the  light  of  the 
divine  word,  what  pure  and  un defiled  religion  is, 
and  what  its  essential  manifestations  are.  Webster 
derives  it  from  religare,  to  bind  anew  or  back,  to 
bind  fast.  He  defines  it:  1.  The  recognition  of  God 
as  an  object  of  worship,  love,  and  obedience;  right 
feelings  toward  God  as  rightly  apprehended;  piety. 
A  high  sense  of  moral  obligation  and  spirit  of  rev- 
erence and  worship,  which  aft'ect  the  heart  of  man 
with  reference  to  the  Deity.  2.  A  system  of  faith 
and  worship.  3.  The  rites  or  services  of  religion. 
The  Greek  word  threeskeia  signifies  worship,  piety, 
service. 

By  accommodation  it  is  used  to  denote  a  system 
of  rules  and  doctrines,  a  creed,  acts  of  worship,  but 
properly  it  signifies  more  than  these.  It  signifies  a 
certain  state  of  mind  and  heart  in  relation  to  God. 
Religion  is  a  word  expressive  of  all  that  is  compre- 
hended in  piety,  devoutness,  righteousness,  godli- 
ness, reverence,  holiness.  Hence,  we  may  say  that, 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  it  is  a  life  in  God,  and 
a  life  of  union  and  communion  with  God.  As  a 
principle,  or  essence,  it  is  the  divine  life  in  the  soul : 
"  That  by  these  ye  might  be  partakers  of  the  di- 
vine nature."  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath 
everlasting  life."  "  He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life, 
and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hath  not  life." 
This  life  of  God  in  the  soul  is  religion  in  essence,  or 


PURE    RELIGION.  109 

principle,  und  as  such  it  is  the  gift  of  God  through 
Jesus  Christ.  This  life  cannot  be  considered  as  an 
abstract  principle  wholly  separate  from  God  himself. 
In  fact,  it  is  God  with  us  and  in  us,  imparting  to  us 
his  own  life  and  likeness.  It  is  an  immediate  con- 
junction of  the  Holy  Spirit  with  our  spirit.  Hence 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  given  unto  the  believer,  not  to 
endow  him  with  the  miraculous  gift  of  tongues  and 
the  power  of  working  miracles,  as  with  the  apostles, 
but  to  give  him  the  life  and  the  likeness  of  God. 
By  the  impartation  of  this  spiritual  life  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  we  are  begotten  of  God,  have  given  us  a  new 
nature,  become  a  new  creation,  or  a  new  creature. 
The  result  of  the  gift  of  spiritual  life  is  the  new 
birth  of  the  Spirit  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
all  the  experiences  and  activities  of  the  soul  flow 
from  it  —  such  as  love,  joy,  peace,  long -suffering, 
meekness,  temperance,  and  brotherly  kindness. 
This  divine  life  in  the  soul  is  a  life  of  growth  and 
development  manifesting  itself  on  all  sides  of  our 
being  in  acts  of  worship,  such  as  prayer  and  praise; 
in  deeds  of  benevolence  and  kindness,  such  as  visit- 
ing the  sick,  feeding  the  hungry,  clothing  the  naked, 
instructing  the  ignorant,  comforting  the  distressed; 
in  the  practice  of  self-denial  and  cross  -  bearing, 
keeping  one's  self  "unspotted  from  the  world;" 
and  in  an  obedient,  consecrated  disposition  of  mind 
and  heart,  conforming  the  whole  life  to  the  will  of 
God  in  Christ.  This  principle  of  the  divine  life  in 
the  soul  by  which  it  is  begotten  of  God,  and  born 
of  the  Spirit,  is  religion,  and  all  these  soul-experi- 
ences of  love,  joy,  peace,  etc.,  and  the  activities  of 


110  PURE   RELIGION. 

the  daily  life  in  self-denial,  deeds  of  benevolence, 
and  acts  of  worship,  are  the  results,  the  effects,  the 
croppings  out,  the  manifestations,  of  the  indwelling 
principle  and  power  of  th'e  life  received  from  God. 
Hence  we  read,  "  Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us  with 
the  word  of  truth."  "  Being  born  [begotten]  again, 
not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by 
the  word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth  for- 
ever." Every  act  of  Christian  obedience,  all  the 
Christian  virtues,  all  the  pure,  holy,  beatifying 
emotions,  desires,  and  affections  of  the  soul,  all  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit,  are  referred  by  the  Holy  Script- 
ures to  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  is  the  principle 
and  power  of  the  life  imparted  to  the  soul  by  God 
through  Christ,  and  the  efficient  cause  of  all  our 
spiritual  life  and  godliness.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  the 
agent  and  power  by  which  the  soul  is  begotten  of 
God  and  born  again,  by  which  it  is  quickened, 
raised  from  a  state  of  death,  and  fructified  with  vir- 
tue and  holiness.  By  him  we  receive  the  essence 
and  power  of  religion.  In  him  is  found  the  fact 
and  philosophy,  the  origin  and  power,  of  all  spirit- 
ual life,  its  experiences  and  its  activities.  Hence  we 
read  again,  "Whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ  is  born  [begotten]  of  God;  and  every  one 
that  loveth  him  that  begat,  loveth  him  also  that  is 
begotten  of  him."  "  For  whatsoever  is  born  of  God 
[begotten]  overcometh  the  world;  and  this  is  the 
victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our  faith." 
"  If  ye  know  that  he  is  righteous,  ye  know  that 
every  one  that  doeth  righteousness  is  born  of  him." 
"  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  [begotten]  doth  not 


PURE   RELIGION.  Ill 

commit  sin,  for  his  seed  remaineth  in  him;  and  he 
cannot  sin,  because  he  is  born  of  God."  "For  love 
is  of  God;  and  every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God, 
and  knoweth  God."  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  Whatever 
else  any  of  these  passages  may  teach,  one  thing  is 
undeniable,  is  certain,  that  is  this,  that  love,  entering 
into  and  enjoying  the  kingdom  of  God,  righteous- 
ness, doing  righteousness,  the  faith  itself  that  over- 
cometh  the  world,  in  fact,  all  spiritual  life  in  us,  all 
truly  religious  experience,  and  all  works  of  right- 
eousness that  are  pleasing  and  acceptable  to  God, 
have  their  origin  in  an  indwelling  principle  of  divine 
life,  and  spring  from  it.  The  spiritual  begetting 
and  birth,  by  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  giving  us  a  new  nature  and  a  new  source  of 
life  in  God,  is  the  prime  cause  of  all  the  good  that 
exists  in  us.  To  the  same  effect  are  the  teachings 
of  John  on  the  holy  anointing,  or  the  ointment  from 
the  Holy  One,  which  abides  in  believers,  and  so 
effectually  teaches  them  that  they  have  no  need  that 
another  should  teach  them.  What  is  this  chrism 
but  the  Holy  Ghost?  Thus  Christ  was  anointed  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  thus  Christians  are  anointed. 
Dr.  Braune  says, "  The  chrism,  or  ointment,  will  have 
to  be  understood  as  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  humeis  ekete 
chrisma" — you  have  an  ointment,  or  an  anointing — 
"  reminds  the  readers  of  the  great  gift  which  makes 
them  priests,  kings,  and  prophets,  the  genos  ehlekton, 
basileion  hierateuma,  ethnos  hagion,  of  1  Pet.  ii.  9  " — a 
chosen  race,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation.  The 
same  author  says,  "  Christians  are  anointed,  and 


112  PURE   RELIGION. 

their  name  should  daily  remind  them  of  what  they 
owe  to  God  and  their  neighbor,  as  spiritual  kings, 
priests,  and  prophets."  "As  is  a  king  without  a 
kingdom,  a  ruler  without  subjects,  a  general  with- 
out soldiers,  so  is  a  Christian  without  the  anoint- 
ing"—  only  in  name.  "None  but  those  who  have 
the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  anointing  can  be  sufficiently 
on  their  guard  against  the  lies  of  antichrist.  All 
other  knowledge  is  too  weak  by  far  to  be  able  to 
withstand  temptation  and  spiritual  conflicts."  Dr. 
Mombert,  translator  of  Dr.  Braune's  Commentary 
of  John's  Epistles,  sums  up  the  benefits  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  or  holy  anointing,  to  all  believers  thus:  "1. 
The  chrism  (Holy  Spirit)  is  a  general  gift,  vouch- 
safed to  all  Christians  ;  2.  Not  transient,  but  perma- 
nent; 3.  Leads  them  into  all  truth;  4.  Moves  them 
to  the  practice  of  all  the  precepts  of  Christ;  5.  As- 
sures them  of  their  Christian  privileges  (children  of 
God,  members  of  Christ,  and  inheritors  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven);  6.  Teaches  them  in  all  things — 
they  are  therefore  disciples  and  learners  all  the  days 
of  their  life;  7.  Preserves  their  fellowship  with  the 
Father  and  with  the  Son;  8.  Makes  them  temples 
of  God."  Again  we  read,  "  There  is  a  divine  seed 
in  those  who  are  born  of  (out  of)  God;  they  have 
not  become  God,  deified,  or  absorbed,  in  God,  or 
God  in  them,  but  only  partakers  of  the  divine  nat- 
ure, germ-like,  like  new-born  babes,  so  that  a  begin- 
ning has  been  made,  but  only  a  beginning,  although 
the  beginning  of  a  life,  divine,  coming  from  and 
leading  to  God.  This  birth  out  of  God  is  a  transla- 
tion of  man  from  death  to  life,  brings  him  to  the 


PURE   RELIGION.  113 

Light  of  the  world,  and  gives  him  eternal  life,  and 
effects  the  blessed  result  that  God  is  in  us  and  we 
in  him,  as  the  children  of  God  out  of  God."  "  The 
cause  of  regeneration  is  the  righteous  God,  and  an 
ethical  status  is  its  mark  and  sign.  God  gives,  and 
man  not  only  has  but  becomes  (comes  into  existence). 
God  rules  over  thee,  and  has  his  work  in  thee,  that 
thou  mayest  become  and  remain  his  child.  God's 
attribute  of  righteousness  is  not  only  energetically 
active,  but  also  communicative.  The  import  of  re- 
generation should  be  laid  hold  of  by  its  indispensa- 
ble consequence,  viz. :  Poiein  teen  dikaiosuneen  [doing 
the  righteousness],  and  even  its  nature  defined  as  a 
beginning  of  a  new,  divine  life." 

I  have  been  thus  particular  to  define  and  set  forth 
what  religion  is,  in  the  true  scriptural  sense,  whence 
its  origin  as  a  controlling  principle  of  life  in  the  soul, 
and  what  are  its  effects,  because  we  so  often  hear  it 
taught  now  that  religion  consists  in  doing  some- 
thing— that  is,  in  keeping  the  commandments;  or, 
that  the  observance  of  certain  preceptive  require- 
ments constitutes  religion,  and  makes  one  religious. 
The  idea  is  being  extensively  circulated,  that  a  re- 
ligion of  inward  life  and  power,  effectuated  by  the 
personal  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  operating  direct- 
ly on  the  soul,  regenerating  it,  and  giving  it  life  and 
purity,  is  absurd,  a  dream  of  the  imagination,  and 
groundless  in  reason  and  Scripture.  The  doctrine 
that  seeks  to  displace  this  regards  religion  as  wholly 
educational  and  practical.  We  are  told  that  religion 
is  obedience  to  the  law,  and  that  this  is  secured  by 
instruction.  So  that  religion,  according  to  this  view, 


114  PURE   RELIGION. 

consists  of  two  parts,  viz.,  theory  and  practice.  One 
learns  the  theoretical  part  as  a  child  learns  the  mul- 
tiplication table,  and  he  practices  the  precepts  as  a 
man  practices  medicine,  or  farming,  or  mechanics. 
Even  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  the  vicarious  atone- 
ment of  Christ  is  set  aside  as  repugnant  to  reason, 
and  opposed  to  justice,  and  in  its  place  is  set  up  the 
poor,  puny  offspring  of  a  rationalistic  philosophy, 
which  teaches  that  God  had  no  need  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  man,  because  he  was  already  reconciled,  but 
that  the  simple  design  of  the  death  of  Christ  was 
to  afford  to  man  a  display  of  the  love  of  God,  and 
furnish  him  with  an  example  of  self-denial  and 
submission  to  the  Father's  will,  thus  seeking,  in  a 
purely  educational  and  moral  way,  to  reconcile  man 
to  God  by  the  influence  of  ideas.  According  to  this 
view,  no  satisfaction  was  made  to  divine  justice,  and 
no  benefits  were  procured  by  the  death  of  Christ. 
Hence  man  is  redeemed  and  regenerated  by  the  in- 
fluence of  ideas,  and  his  own  deeds  of  righteousness 
which  result  from  them.  Alas,  for  mankind,  when 
religion  falls  into  the  hands  of  professional  huck- 
sters, who  dilute  it  into  thin  gruel,  consisting  of  a 
few  emasculated  ideas  and  perfunctory  services;  or 
reduce  it  to  an  unsubstantial  wafer,  and  then  ped- 
dle it  out  at  cheap  cost  to  men's  worldly  wisdom! 

How  unscriptural  these  views  are  will  readily  ap- 
pear from  all  those  scriptures  which  represent  our 
recovery  from  sin,  and  death,  and  misery,  to  God, 
and  life,  and  holiness,  as  effected  by  himself:  "You 
hath  he  quickened  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins."  "  By  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith,  and 


PURE    RELIGION.  115 

that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God."  "Who 
hath  saved  us  and  called  us  with  a  holy  calling,  not 
according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own 
purpose  and  grace."  "  Not  by  works  of  righteous- 
ness which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mer- 
cy he  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  shed  on  us 
abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour."  "  In 
whom  after  that  ye  believed  ye  were  sealed  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  promise."  "  But  ye  are  washed,  but 
ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified,  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God." 
Whatever  be  the  term  used  to  express  our  moral 
recovery,  whether  delivered,  redeemed,  quickened, 
reconciled,  begotten,  born,  raised  up,  justified,  sealed, 
created  anew,  or  saved,  the  Scriptures-  uniformly. re- 
fer the  work  to  God  as  the  doer,  the  author  of  it. 
Paul  shows  conclusively  that  something  more  than 
motives,  arguments,  ideas,  is  required  to  convert  and 
save,  for  he  declares  that  "  his  speech  and  preach- 
ing ""was  not  with  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom, 
but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power; 
that  your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of 
men,  but  in  the  power  of  God."  Spiritual  conver- 
sion, according  to  the  sacred  teachings,  is  effected 
by  a  personal  power,  the  power  of  God,  or  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  not  by  arguments,  or  works  of 
obedience  to  law.  The  intellectual  relation  to  God 
is  of  a  secondary  character,  because  it  is  mediated 
by  ideas,  thoughts,  and  images;  but  the  religious 
relation  is  one  of  real  existence,  of  personal  life  and 
being.  Scientists,  philosophers,  artists,  and  moral- 


116  PURE   RELIGION. 

ists,  together  with  all  religious  formalists,  "  have 
God  only  in  the  reflected  images  of  thought  and 
fancy,  while  the  devout  Christian  has  him  in  his 
very  being.  The  reality  of  this  difference  forces 
itself  upon  us  when  we  set  prophets  and  apostles 
over  against  poets  and  philosophers." 

The  religious  relation  to  God  must  be  one  of  per- 
sonal holiness.  The  voice  of  the  unrenewed  con 
science  is  a  continuous  demand  for  it.  It  is  equally 
true  that  man  cannot  make  himself  holy  by  any  act 
or  series  of  acts  of  any  kind  whatever,  for  then  he 
would  have  no  need  of  a  vicarious  offering,  or  a 
Holy  Spirit.  He  might  make  his  own  atonement, 
and  be  his  own  saviour.  But  the  Bible,  recognizing 
man  as  utterly  lost,  and  unable  to  save  himself, 
teaches  that  '•'  without  shedding  of  blood  there  is 
no  remission"  of  sins;  that  "it  behooved  Christ  to 
suffer"  and  to  die,  in  order  "that  repentance  and 
remission  of  sins  might  be  preached  in  his  name 
among  all  nations;"  that  man  is  "elect"  only 
"through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  unto  obedi- 
ence, and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ." 

This  demand  for  holiness  to  fit  man  for  fellowship 
with  God  is  the  grand  characteristic  of  the  Christian 
religion.  It  belongs  to  no  false  religion,  but  it  runs 
all  through  the  word  of  God,  from  its  Alpha  to  its 
Omega.  Every  essential  fact  of  revelation  looks  to 
it.  To  raise  up  a  holy  seed,  to  make  man  a  holy 
being,  a  vessel  and  abode  of  Deity,  and  an  organ 
for  the  revelation  of  the  Holy  God,  is  the  grand 
aim  of  the  whole  gospel  scheme.  This  is  the  tele- 
ological  design  of  Holy  Love,  both  in  creation  and 


PURE   RELIGION.  117 

in  redemption,  and  the  reason  for  its  marvelous 
manifestation  on  the  theater  of  time.  This  is  the 
meaning  of  Bethlehem  and  Gethsemane,  of  Calvary 
and  Pentecost.  "  Without  holiness  no  man  shall 
see  the  Lord." 

The  source  of  this  holiness  is  in  God,  not  in  us. 
It  is  an  essential  attribute  of  Deity.  He  is  the  God 
of  holiness,  and  his  is  the  Spirit  of  holiness.  And 
it  is  not  till  the  human -created  will,  in  its  relative 
freedom,  influenced  by  grace,  meets  with  and  merges 
into  the  absolutely  free  and  uncreated  will  of  God, 
that  a  spiritual  transfusion  of  the  divine  nature  into 
ours  takes  place,  and  we  become  partakers  of  the 
divine  holiness.  The  entrance  of  the  holy  person- 
ality of  God  in  all  his  communicable  fullness  into 
the  human  personality,  without  the  loss  of  either, 
thus  making  the  human  nature  a  partaker  of  the 
divine  nature  of  holiness,  was  the  miracle  of  the 
incarnation;  and  it  is  precisely  this  miracle  that  is 
repeated,  or  rather  continued,  throughout  the  new 
creation,  throughout  the  whole  body  of  which  Christ 
is  the  head.  "  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me."  There 
is  an  organic,  vital,  essential  unity  between  the  vine 
and  its  branches,  the  same  life  in  all,  running  from 
the  vine  into  the  branches,  as  the  cause  of  all  their 
vigor  and  fruitfulness.  Holiness  of  heart  and  life 
is  the  fruit  of  an  indwelling  personal  Christ.  This 
is  the  essential  relation,  without  which  the  intellect- 
ual, the  natural,  the  moral,  and  the  formal  relations 
to  God  are  miserable  abortions;  and  the  soul  that 
is  not  brought  into  this  relation  to  God  of  personal 
holiness  is  fit  only  to  be  cut  oft'  from  the  true  source 


118  PURE   RELIGION. 

of  life,  as  a  diseased  limb  is  amputated  from  its 
trunk,  and  cast  into  the  abyss  of  things  that  might 
have  been,  but  never  were. 

The  very  fact  that  genuine  religion  requires  holi- 
ness demonstrates  it  to  be  the  religion  of  conscience. 
Conscience  is  the  co-,  or  concordant,  knowledge  of 
man  with  God,  of  the  relation  of  his  personal  being 
to  God.  For  I  am  what  in  conscience  I  know  my- 
self to  be.  Conscience  puts  us  into  the  most  direct 
personal  relation  to  God.  It  relates  not  directly  to 
the  moral  law,  but  to  the  holy  personality  of  God. 
No  one  can  be  said  to  have  a  conscience  for  law,  for 
abstract  truth,  or  for  an  impersonal  power.  It  is 
the  perception  and  feeling  of  the  moral  relation  be- 
tween two  personalities,  in  whom  there  exists,  on 
the  side  of  conscience,  obligation  and  freedom,  and 
on  the  side  of  the  Holy  Being,  to  whom  we  are 
bound,  power,  goodness,  arid  justice.  The  moral 
law,  a  divine  revelation,  does  not  create  conscience, 
but  enlightens  it  as  to  the  way  by  which  the  human 
personality  is  to  be  reconciled  to  the  divine;  and  it 
is  the  office  of  conscience  to  bring  our  moral  relation 
to  God  into  the  light  of  self-consciousness.  This  it 
does  by  means  of  its  two  great  constituents,  percep- 
tion and  feeling.  Hence  it  is  the  culminating  point 
of  thought,  of  desire,  of  emotion,  and  of  volition. 
The  soul's  telegraph -office,  all  its  moral  activities, 
meet  and  break  into  the  light  of  self-consciousness 
here.  For  this  reason  it  is  the  very  seat,  the  sanc- 
tum sanctorum,  of  pure  and  undetiled  religion,  which 
can  never  be  personal,  holy,  and  regnant,  until  it  is 
the  religion  of  conscience.  Seated  here,  religion 


PURE   RELIGION.  119 

becomes  a  personal  possession,  a  controlling  power, 
dominating  the  will,  the  desires,  and  the  affections, 
in  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  our  obligations  to 
the  Holy  God.  As  all  the  juices  of  the  tree  run  up 
into  the  fruit  and  make  it,  so  all  the  sap  of  the  soul, 
all  its  sweetness  and  vigor,  run  up  into  conscience 
and  nourish  religion,  the  life  of  the  soul;  and  from 
this  the  soul's  inmost  adytum  go  forth  in  conscious 
approval  or  disapproval  of  all  its  sustaining  or  de- 
pressing power.  Hence,  the  "  relations  between  God 
and  ourselves  acquire  religious  significance  only  as 
they  spring  from,  or  are  received  into,  this  funda- 
mental relation;  and  certainty  about  divine  and 
human  things  of  a  religious  cast  becomes  religious 
certainty  only  when  it  is  the  certainty  of  conscience." 
Here,  then,  we  discover  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
profoundest  psychological  manifestations  of  religion 
is  that  of  feeling.  Not  that  feeling  is  the  sole  ex- 
clusive form  of  its  manifestation,  but  one  which  is 
inclusive  of  perception  and  volition.  The  Bishop 
-of  Holland,  while  admitting  that  feeling  denotes 
the  most  immediate  contact  of  consciousness  with 
its  object,  and  therefore  denotes  the  foundation, 
though  not  the  completion,  of  religious  character, 
nevertheless  says,  "  We  are  to  treat  the  question  [of 
religious  manifestation]  no  longer  as  one  of  an 
either,  or,  but  as  one  of  a  both,  and."  Schleier- 
macher  makes  the  feelings  the  exclusive  seat  of  re- 
ligion, and  the  form  of  feeling  in  which  religion 
manifests  itself  that  of  absolute  dependence.  An- 
other tells  us  it  is  the  feeling  of  unbounded  rever- 
ence; while  the  mystics  describe  piety  as  a  theo- 


120  PURE   RELIGION. 

pathic  state  in  which  one  feels  his  inmost  soul 
touched  by  the  power  divine  —  a  holy  pathos  in 
which  man  feels  himself  to  be  a  vessel  and  an  abode 
of  the  Deity.  Certainly  all  these  views,  which  do  not 
differ  essentially,  are  scriptural,  when  not  exclusive 
but  inclusive  of  all  the  possible  forms  of  religious 
feeling,  such  as  love,  joy,  and  peace.  I  cannot  con- 
ceive religion  as  a  principle  in  the  soul,  as  a  divine 
power,  creating  it  anew  in  Christ,  quickening  it  into 
spiritual  life,  and  raising  it  up  from  a  state  of  death, 
and  translating  it  into  the  kingdom  of  light,  with- 
out at  the  same  time  effecting  a  radical  change  in 
thought,  feeling,  and  volition ;  and  I  cannot  conceive 
of  such  a  change  taking  place  without  the  corre- 
sponding idea  of  the  soul's  consciousness  of  it.  And 
I  apprehend  that  the  first,  most  reliable,  and  satis- 
factory evidence  to  the  personal  Ego  of  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  regenerating  and  sanctifying 
the  soul,  is  to  be  found  in  its  consciousness  of  the 
feelings  of  love,  joy,  peace,  and  unbounded  reverence. 
According  to  the  word  of  God,  one  of  the  divinest 
and  most  sensible  experiences  of  the  converted  soul 
is  love.  So  much  is  this  emphasized  in  Scripture, 
that  we  are  told  plainly,  "  Love  is  of  God,  and  who- 
soever loveth  is  born  of  God,  and  knoweth  God;" 
and  Paul  tells  us  that  we  come  into  the  possession 
of  love  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  sheds  it  abroad  in 
our  hearts.  Along  with  the  feeling  of  love  conies 
the  knowledge  of  what  God  has  done  for  us  and  in 
us,  for  the  soul  is  immediately  conscious  of  its  own 
experience,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  and  dwells 
in  it,  and  bears  testimony  with  it  that  it  is  a  child 


PURE    RELIGION.  121 

of  God.  Speaking  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Jesus  said, 
"But  ye  know  him,  for  he  dwelleth  with  you,  and 
shall  be  in  you.  At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I 
am  iu  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you." 
John  is  equally  clear  on  this  point  in  his  Epistles. 
Kot  only  does  he  affirm  that  "he  that  believeth  on 
the  Son  hath  the  witness  in  himself,"  but  he  gives 
several  infallible  proofs  by  which  we  know  that  we 
have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  are  born  of  God, 
are  the  children  of  God,  and  have  him  abiding  in 
us.  Such  are,  1.  The  anointing;  2.  The  love  of 
God  and  of  the  brethren;  3.  The  indwelling  Spirit 
of  God;  4.  Obedience;  5.  Faith.  Four  of  these 
proofs  are  objects  of  conscious  knowledge,  and  one 
relates  to  our  external  duties,  which  are  also  objects 
of  consciousness  in  the  volitions  whence  they  spring. 
First,  then,  we  have  the  Holy  Spirit  regenerating 
the  soul;  from  this,  feeling;  from  this,  conscious 
knowledge  of  what  has  taken  place  in  us,  and  of  our 
saved  relation  to  God;  from  this,  volition,  resulting 
in  acts  of  worship,  deeds  of  kindness  and  love,  and 
resistance  to  all  evil,  keeping  ourselves  "  unspotted 
from  the  world."  Thus  we  see  that,  in  perfect  keep- 
ing with  the  teaching  of  the  Master,  religion  begins 
with  a  principle  and  power  of  life  in  the  soul,  and 
works  from  within  out.  It  has  its  origin  in  the 
mysterious  depths  of  our  spiritual  being,  its  visible 
manifestation  in  the  outward  life.  It  has  its  Geth- 
semane  and  Calvary,  but  they  lead  to  a  triumphant 
resurrection  and  a  glorious  Pentecost.  It  has  its 
sowing-time,  its  growing-time,  and  its  harvest-time; 
but  there  is  hope  in  the  first,  and  joy  in  the  second, 
6 


122  PURE   RELIGION. 

and  glory  in  the  last.  What  a  divine  fullness  in 
religion!  It  has  truth  for  the  miud,  love  for  the 
soul,  joy  for  the  heart,  and  God  for  its  object. 

A  danger  to  which  men  are  ever  exposed,  more 
particularly  in  an  age  like  this,  when  so  many  minds 
are  occupied  with  the  study  of  material  facts  and 
forces,  with  money-making  and  pleasure-seeking,  is 
that  of  holding  religion  at  second-hand.  This  is 
the  case  when  religion  is  sundered  from  its  vital 
source  in  the  affections,  when  religious  views  are 
held  in  a  merely  intellectual,  or  aesthetic,  or  formal 
way,  because  these  persons  know  nothing  of  the 
personal  feelings  and  determinations  of  conscience. 
However  correct  in  theory,  or  refined  and  beautiful 
in  its  forms,  a  religion  which  does  not  originate  in 
conscience,  and  is  not  sustained  by  a  personal,  ex- 
perimental knowledge  of  God's  saving  power,  is 
nothing  more  than  second-hand,  because  it  is  wholly 
mediated  by  ideas,  and  not  by  the  soul's  personal 
contact  with  God's  holy  love.  The  holding  of  a 
comprehensive  system  of  religious  truth  is  no  proof 
that  one  is  religious.  Thousands  have  represented 
religious  ideas  with  great  plastic  power  without  any 
personal  possession  of  it  in  themselves.  Paul  shows 
us  that  tongues,  and  knowledge,  and  self-sacrifice, 
and  miracles,  even  faith  itself,  were  it  possible  to 
separate  it  from  love — all  these,  however  great  and 
powerful  in  themselves,  are  insufficient,  nay,  worth- 
less, without  love.  And  a  religion  in  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  life  and  love  is  an  unknown  quantity  is 
second-hand,  a  mere  sham,  a  disgustingly  useless 
and  puerile  thing  with  the  Almighty. 


PURE    RELIGION.  123 

Let  us  make  ours  the  religion  of  conscience  and 
personal  holiness — a  religion  of  character,  of  "  per- 
fect love  that  casteth  out  fear."  Then  we  shall  find 
every  noble  purpose  that  breathes  across  the  laws 
of  life  refreshing,  and  every  effort  to  walk  in  the 
broad  daylight  of  duty  invigorating,  and  down 
every  channel  furrowed  out  by  prayer  in  its  flight  to 
heaven  will  rills  of  joy  descend  to  make  green  and 
flowery  the  banks  of  life,  and  to  pitch  the  song  of 
all  its  shores  on  the  key  in  which  its  raptures  came. 

What  a  wonderful  accumulating  and  self-regis- 
tering power  is  conscience!  It  stores  up  both  good 
and  evil.  The  most  trivial  event  can  no  more  escape 
detection  than  a  single  drop  of  blood  can  evade  the 
heart.  A  faithful  scribe,  he  records  each  moment's 
work.  A  polished  mirror,  it  is  stained  by  the  faint- 
est breath  of  evil.  We  see  the  foot-prints  of  time 
in  the  granite,  and  glide  back  over  ages  to  note  the 
route  he  took,  and  the  road  he  traveled.  Sin  leaves 
its  foot-prints  on  conscience,  and  after  ages  they 
•will  be  traceable  unless  erased  by  the  blood  of  Jesus. 
The  diary  of  conscience  is  a  minute-book  of  the 
life,  and  from  these  records  the  historian  of  eternity 
will  gather  the  materials  for  a  faithful  history  of  the 
generations  of  time. 

What  has  happened  when  success  justifies  its  own 
cheating,  when  vice  is  respectable  because  it  is  titled, 
when  the  steal  of  millions  makes  gentlemen  out  of 
rogues,  and  evil-doing  pleads  the  authority  of  great- 
ness? Evidently  the  public  conscience  is  warped, 
and  travels  over  crooked  routes,  or  "  else  it  slinks 
home  by  the  alleys,  and  frets  because  it  has  lost  its 


124  PURE   RELIGION. 

right  of  way."  "What  then  is  needed?  A  Samuel 
to  hew  the  guilty  Agags  in  pieces?  Some  stripling 
David  to  slay  the  haughty  warrior?  A  John  the 
Baptist,  or  a  John  Wesley,  to  cry  in  the  wilderness 
and  in  the  crowded  city  with  a  voice  that  wakes  the 
dead?  Alas!  we  forget,  perhaps,  that  it  is  ours  to  be 
simple  in  the  midst  of  fashion,  to  be  truthful  when 
duplicity  meets  with  flattery,  to  be  sincere  when 
trickery  is  applauded,  and  to  keep  conscience  pure 
when  the  multitudes  are  false.  Had  we,  to-day, 
enough  men  and  women  of  independence,  of  strong, 
quick,  robust  conscience,  full  of  faith  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  steady  as  the  magnetic  needle  to  its 
pole,  a  grand  reformation  would  sweep  the  nation, 
purge  it  of  its  crimes,  and  make  it  a  very  garden  of 
the  Lord. 

To  have  a  religion  of  conscience  so  true  in  the 
midst  of  an  evil  and  adulterous  generation,  bold 
enough  to  plow  deep  furrows  of  conviction  across 
continents  of  vice,  to  cut  out  the  very  heart  of  sin 
with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and  to  sow  precious 
seeds  when  there  are  no  clouds  in  the  sky  and  no 
moisture  in  the  ground,  to  bear  on  the  cross  in  the 
face  of  opposition  till  it  waves  grandly  over  the 
ruined  battlements  of  vice,  and  truth  and  righteous- 
ness go  forth  to  meet  the  glad  welcome  of  millions — 
how  great  the  work!  Founders  of  empires  never 
equaled  it;  explorers  of  worlds  never  went  so  far; 
warriors  never  achieved  such  victories.  And  though 
our  powers  are  feeble,  our  spheres  limited,  our  op- 
portunities seemingly  few,  let  us  toil  on  in  the  "good 
old  way."  We  are  sowing  an  incorruptible  seed, 


PURE   RELIGION.  125 

which  will  spring  up  somewhere  on  the  "  planet's 
made  soil;"  and  if  not  at  once,  after  generations. 
Not  one  drop  is  lost  in  the  ocean.  Let  us  be  en- 
couraged. The  Gulf-stream  sets  out  upon  its' jour- 
ney through  the  deep,  and,  after  it  has  gone  thou- 
sands of  miles,  may  still  be  tracked  by  its  genial 
breath;  and  though  it  is  comparatively  small,  and 
has  traveled  so  far,  its  influence  is  still  perceptible 
on  Greenland's  ice-ribbed  coast. 

Were  this  not  so,  it  is  enough  that  thrilling  duty 
invites  us  out  upon  God's  highway  of  holiness. 
Opportunities  are  at  hand.  Some  face  of  truth 
looks  iu  upon  us,  points  to  her  crown  of  thorns,  and 
begs  us  wear  it  awhile;  some  wail  of  suffering  hu- 
manity falls  upon  the  ear  to  waken  our  pity;  some 
work,  some  cross,  some  self-sacrifice  for  Christ's 
sake,  is  ever  and  anon  knocking  at  the  door.  Have 
we  heeded?  Is  our  religion  pure  and  undefiled? 
Has  our  faith  been  made  perfect  by  works?  Do 
we  add  to  inward  experience  volition  and  action, 
according  to  the  requirements  of  the  law  of  love 
and  the  example  of  Christ?  In  that  day  when  the 
Son  of  man  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory, 
and  all  the  holy  angels  are  with  him,  and  before 
him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations,  shall  we  hear  him 
say  to  us,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world;  for  I  was  a  hungered,  and  ye  gave 
me  meat;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink;  I 
was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in;  naked,  and  ye 
clothed  me;  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me;  I  was 
in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me  ?  "  Amen  and  amen ! 


THE  SUPREME  AIM  OF  LIFE. 

BY  THE  EEV.  J.  D.  BLACKWELL, 

Virginia,  Conference. 

"  Because  the  gods  of  the  kings  of  Syria  help  them,  there- 
fore will  I  sacrifice  to  them,  that  they  may  help  me.  But 
they  were  the  ruin  of  him,  and  of  all  Israel."  2  Chron. 
xxviii.  23. 

CONTINUED  prosperity  and  signal  adversity  are 
alike  unfavorable  to  true  submission  to  God.  "  Give 
me  neither  poverty  nor  riches,  lest  I  be  full,  and 
deny  thee,  saying,  Who  is  the  Lord,  or  lest  I  be  poor, 
and  take  the  name  of  my  God  in  vain,"  arraign  the 
wisdom  of  his  providence,  and  fret  against  him. 
Uzziah  and  Jotham,  the  immediate  predecessors  in 
the  kingdom  of  Judah  to  Ahaz,  had  marked  pros- 
perity in  their  reigns.  They  defeated  their  enemies, 
enlarged  the  borders  of  their  kingdom,  built  cities 
in  the  conquered  territory  and  towers  in  the  desert, 
adorned  and  fortified  their  capital,  and  strengthened 
themselves  exceedingly.  Of  Uzziah  it  is  said,  "As 
long  as  he  sought  the  Lord,  God  made  him  to  pros- 
per;" and  Jotham,  we  are  told,  became  mighty  be- 
cause he  prepared  his  ways  before  the  Lord  his  God. 
Yet,  as  our  context  and  the  first  chapters  of  Isaiah 
clearly  testify,  this  prosperity,  with  its  power  and 
voluptuousness,  engendered  in  Judah  a  proud  self- 

.(126) 


THE   SUPREME    AIM    OF   LIFE.  127 

confidence,  removing  from  the  minds  of  the  nation 
all  sense  of  dependence  on  Jehovah. 

Ahaz,  whom  our  text  brings  before  us,  was  as- 
sailed by  sore  misfortunes.  The  kings  of  Syria  and 
Israel,  the  Edomites  and  Philistines,  invaded  his 
land,  slew  tens  of  thousands  of  his  soldiers,  took 
possession  of  some  of  his  cities,  and  when  he  sought 
aid  from  the  Assyrian  king,  Tilgath-pilneser  ac- 
cepted his  gifts  and  came  unto  him,  "but  he  helped 
him  not."  He  was  in  great  straits,  and  sorely  trou- 
bled, and  our  text  points  to  the  result:  "And  in  the 
time  of  his  distress  did  he  trespass  yet  more  against 
the  Lord:  this  is  that  King  Ahaz.  For  he  sacrificed 
unto  the  gods  of  Damascus,  which  smote  him;  and 
he  said,  Because  the  gods  of  the  kings  of  Syria  help 
them,  therefore  will  I  sacrifice  to  them,  that  they 
may  help  me." 

Our  text  suggests  as  the  theme  for  our  considera- 
tion, The  wickedness  and  folly  of  making  worldly 
success  the  supreme  aim  of  life.  This  seemed  to  be 
the  purpose  of  Ahaz.  He  was  in  great  distress. 
Edom  had  smitten  Judah,  and  carried  away  captives; 
the  Philistines  also  had  invaded  the  cities  of  the 
low  countries,  and  of  the  south  of  Judah,  and  dwelt 
in  his  land.  In  his  extremity  he  had  hired  the  king 
of  Assyria  to  aid  him,  but  this  ruler  came  to  him 
and  helped  him  not;  he  only  smoothed  his  way  for 
the  conquest  of  Judah  by  crushing  the  intervening 
kingdom  of  Syria.  Trouble,  instead  of  humbling 
Ahaz,  made  him  desperate  and  defiant.  Tell  me 
not  of  patience  and  submission,  of  trust  in  the  God 
of  Israel;  every  thing  is  going  to  ruin;  all  will  soon 


128  THE    SUPREME    AIM    OF    LIFE. 

be  lost.  I  will  try  other  plans.  I  must  have  suc- 
cess, and  as  these  gods  prosper  those  that  worship 
them,  I  will  worship  them  too,  that  they  may  give 
me  prosperity. 

In  the  present  age  this  same  device  is  often  re- 
sorted to.  We  are  determined  on  success  in  busi- 
ness. We  rise  early,  sit  up  late,  eat  the  bread  of 
frugality,  toil  with  persevering  diligence,  and  yet 
all  our  efforts  fail.  Others  succeed,  but  we  observe 
that  they  do  not  sacrifice  to  the  God  of  integrity 
and  uprightness.  They  are  unscrupulous  in  their 
policy.  They  suppress  conscience,  and  rail  at  it. 
"It  is  a  dangerous  thing — a  man  cannot  steal  but  it 
accuseth  him.  'T  is  a  blushing,  shame-faced  spirit — 
it  beggars  any  man  that  keeps  it.  It  is  turned  out 
of  all  towns  and  cities  for  a  dangerous  thing,  and 
every  man  that  means  to  live  well  endeavors  to 
trust  to  himself  and  live  without  it." 

Why  should  not  conscience  have  vacation 
As  well  as  other  courts  o'  the  nation? 

Folding  up  this  prying  spirit  with  their  Sabbath- 
robes,  they  say,  Live  thou  there,  and  let  my  business- 
hours  alone.  Or  they  are  purely  selfish;  they  gath- 
er, but  never  give.  They  hoard  and  gloat  upon 
their  treasures,  but  never  open  the  hand  to  the 
needy,  or  contribute  to  move  the  world  heavenward. 
They  worship  mammon,  and  seek  self-interest  alone. 
Still  they  prosper.  Whatever  they  touch  turns  to 
gold.  We  fail  with  our  plans  and  principles;  we 
will  adopt  their  course.  Success  will  atone  for 
every  thing.  "Because  the  gods  of  the  kings  of 


TUB    SUPREME   AIM   OF  LIFE.  129 

Syria  help  them,  therefore  will  we  sacrifice  to  them, 
that  they  may  help  us." 

Or  our  business  prospers,  and  we  desire  social 
success.  We  look  around,  and  find  that  the  giddy 
and  frivolous,  they  who  %alk  in  a  vain  show,  are 
frequently  the  honored  of  the  wrorld — those  who 
never  dream  of  talent  to  he  improved,  or  of  good  to 
be  done;  who  laugh  to  scorn  the  antiquated  notions 
of  duty  and  usefulness,  and  hold  in  contempt  the 
idea  of  labor  and  sacrifice  for  others;  who  seem  to 
value  the  ornament  of  the  head,  the  product  of  the 
grass  and  the  silk-worm,  more  than  the  immortal 
mind  that  labors  "in  the  secret  chambers  of  the 
brain,"  and  spend  their  time  in  garlanding  the  body 
as  an  offering  on  the  world's  altar;  the  bright  queens 
of  fashion,  or  the  foppish  young  men,  who  never 
resisted  a  temptation,  and  never  thought  of  reach- 
ing the  lofty  goal  of  victory  through  patient  endur- 
ance and  heroic  battle;  victims  of  appetite,  and  idle- 
ness, and  ennui.  We  find  that  these  are  often  the 
staves  in  fashion's  circle,  and  we  say,  Thus  they  suc- 
ceed, and  we  will  follow  their  example.  We  will 
worship  the  goddess  of  pleasure;  we  will  vitiate 
the  taste,  cramp  the  aspirations  of  the  soul  and  the 
expansive  energies  of  the  mind  within  the  procrus- 
tean  dogmas  of  fashion's  god.  Because  others  thus 
reach  that  pinnacle  of  glory,  we  will  adopt  their 
plans,  worship  their  divinities. 

Perhaps  our  lot  seems  a  hard  one  in  the  Church. 

We  have  much  to  do  and  to  endure,  and  yet  receive 

but  little   present   reward — hewers   of   wood   and 

drawers  of  water  in  the  camp  of  Israel.     We  are 

6* 


130  THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE. 

sent  out  as  pioneers  among  the  marshes  and  mount- 
ains, the  hedges  and  highways  of  earth,  we  sojourn 
"in  the  tents  of  Kedar,"  and  are  never  permitted 
"to  rest  within  the  curtains  of  Solomon."  We  are 
detailed  to  guard  the  Thermopylae  of  Church  and 
State,  to  meet  and  conquer  the  great  multitudes 
that  threaten  to  overthrow  the  truth,  to  evangelize 
the  poor.  There  we  bear,  and  tight,  and  fall,  but, 
like  Joseph  in  prison,  we  are  ignored  by  the  Church, 
or  receive  only  that  patronizing  notice  deemed  need- 
ful to  keep  us  at  our  undesirable  post.  Others  re- 
fuse to  stand  there — we  should  say,  do  not  stand  in 
that  Thermopylae — practically  ignore  the  duty  to 
carry  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  or  to  the  millions  of 
idolaters;  equally  called,  as  it  seems  to  us,  they  ap- 
pear to  flee  as  Jonah  from  an  unpleasant  mission, 
and  take  what,  to  our  distorted  view,  appears  a 
higher  sphere  of  labor,  where  the  world's  eye  will 
observe  and  the  world's  praise  will  greet  them. 

Or,  perhaps,  with  the  voluptuous,  self-indulgent, 
and  proud,  the  plain  and  direct  methods  and  the 
old  doctrines  have  become  distasteful.  They  de- 
mand teachings  congenial  to  their  careless  mode  of 
life.  Pride  must  be  flattered,  fancy  pleased,  the  ap- 
petite for  novelty  gratified;  all  the  stern  demands 
of  law  kept  out  of  view,  and  Elysian  mansions  pro- 
claimed as  their  future  homes.  And  we  note  that 
they  who  seem  to  neglect  the  poor,  and  bow  to  the 
demand  of  those  haying  itching  ears,  prosper  in  the 
world,  are  applauded  of  men  and  crowned  by  so- 
ciety, and  the  temptation  arises  to  say,  Thus  they 
prosper;  these  methods,  these  gods  to  whom  they 


THE   SUPREME   AIM    OF   LIFE.  131 

sacrifice,  help  them,  and  we  will  sacrifice  unto  them, 
that  they  may  help  us.  We  find  the  temptation 
which  ruined  Ahaz  is  very  general,  and,  alas!  often 
triumphant,  in  the  present  day.  It  has  broken  down 
many  a  manly  purpose,  and  wrecked  the  character 
of  multitudes  who  still  live  around  us.  May  the 
spirit  of  wisdom  and  love  aid  us  in  an  earnest  effort 
to  arrest  its  progress! 

In  setting  forth  the  wickedness  of  making  world- 
ly success  the  supreme  object  in  life,  we  state  that 
Jehovah  is  acknowledged  by  us  as  our  God,  and  the 
Bible  is  recognized  as  our  guide.  We  cannot  go  back 
to  the  heathen  worship  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome, 
of  Nineveh,  Babylon,  or  Egypt.  Judaism,  as  de- 
signed for  the  peculiar  people,  Hindooism,  Islarnism, 
do  not  challenge  our  faith.  We  can  neither  wor- 
ship Brahma,  nor  receive  the  Vedas,  the  Talmud,  or 
Koran,  as  our  rule  of  life.  If  we  look  to  the  grand 
attainments  and  wisdom  of  this  nineteenth  century, 
we  find  no  religion  which  can  for  us  substitute  the 
^religion  of  the  Bible.  One  of  the  inventions,  or,  as 
it  claims,  one  of  the  discoveries,  of  this  century  is 
Mormonism.  This  system  evidently  does  not  com- 
mand our  conscience.  We  feel  no  obligation  to  be 
controlled  by  the  sacred  books  of  the  Mormons. 
Positivism,  which  is  identical  in  a  great  degree  with 
the  system  more  recently  called  the  religion  of  sci- 
ence, claims,  also  to  be  the  result  of  the  investiga- 
tion and  learning  of  this  century. 

But  this  religion  makes  no  claim  upon  us  which 
we  recognize  as  binding.  It  is  indeed  a  negation, 
either  denying  flatly  that  there  is  a  God,  or  assert- 


132  THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE. 

ing,  if  there  be  a  God,  we  have  no  means  of  know- 
ing either  the  fact  or  the  nature  of  his  being.  As 
man  is  the  creature  of  evolution,  the  result  of  a 
force  originating  this  system  knows  not  whence, 
and  moving  it  knows  not  whither,  we  are  left,  with- 
out any  sense  of  obligation,  to  be  what  we  are 
forced  to  be.  Nor  have  all  the  efforts  of  modern 
skepticism  availed  to  loose  us  from  a  sense  of  obli- 
gation to  follow  the  rule  of  life  laid  down  in  our 
sacred  book.  Indeed,  these  modern  guides,  while 
claiming  to  be  the  only  advanced  thinkers,  the  only 
truly  wise  men  released  from  the  shackles  of  super- 
stition, frankly  tell  us  they  know  nothing  of  the 
great  themes  which  most  strongly  excite  our  anx- 
iety. They  talk  with  much  complacency  of  "  the 
future  religion  of  all  sensible  men,"  but  promptly 
acknowledge  that  they  do  not  know  what  that  re- 
ligion will  be.  Their  investigations  do  not  bring 
them  in  palpable  contact  with  Jehovah,  and  they 
therefore  assure  us  that  there  is  no  God,  or  none 
that  we  need  concern  ourselves  about,  as  we  can 
know  nothing  of  him.  They  have,  of  course,  in 
their  system  nothing  of  sin  against  God,  or  guilt — 
nothing  of  pardon  or  blessedness  from  Heaven. 
They  seem  not  to  know  that  our  sacred  books 
taught,  thousands  of  years  ago,  that  Jehovah  could 
not  be  seen  by  mortal  eye,  that  the  world  by  wisdom 
knew  not  God,  that  the  blessed  truths  of  Christian- 
ity were  hidden  from  self-sufficient  men — "  the  wise 
and  prudent" — and  revealed  only  to  those  who  were 
willing  to  receive  instruction,  as  from  an  authorita- 
tive teacher.  They  convince  us,  with  great  force  of 


THE    SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE.  133 

argument,  that  he  who  rails  at  or  repudiates  the 
conclusions  of  science,  but  will  not  investigate  for 
himself,  can  have  no  claim  to  consideration;  that 
the  man  who  denies  that  electricity  will  shock  the 
system,  and  yet  will  not  test  the  truth  of  his  state- 
ment by  placing  his  hands  on  the  opposite  poles  of 
a  charged  battery,  is  a  vain  babbler,  unworthy  our 
notice  as  a  teacher  in  science.  And  vet,  though  the 

*  9  C7 

Christian  system  claims  to  subject  its  truth  to  the 
test  of  experiment;  though  its  great  Author  says, 
"If  any  man  wills  to  do  his  will,"  brings  an  honest 
purpose  to  practice  as  he  learns,  "he  shall  know  of 
the  doctrine; "  if  any  man  will  receive  him  and  trust 
in  him,  he  shall  find  rest,  peace,  joy,  and  strength. 
Though  Christianity  thus  declares  itself  an  experi- 
mental science,  these  guides  laugh  at  the  idea  of 
thus  testing  our  system,  and  instead  of  ranking 
themselves  among  the  unwise  for  their  unscientific 
course,  reversing  their  own  logic,  they  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  place  in  that  list  all  who  adopt  the  scientific 
method  of  receiving  as  true  what  they  have  ascer- 
tained by  experiment.  Though  they  feel  at  liberty 
to  place  among  the  unwise  all  who  receive  the  faith 
of  Newton,  and  Bunsen,  and  Hooker,  and  Milton, 
and  Chalmers,  and  J.  Edwards,  and  Watson,  etc. — 
men  who  would  be  giants  in  any  age — and  proclaim 
themselves  leaders  in  thought,  yet  we,  the  serious 
people  of  this  generation,  cannot  accept  them  as  our 
teachers  in  religion.  They  tell  us  that  our  religion, 
with  its  Heavenly  Father  and  heavenly  home,  with 
its  blessed  consolations,  its  rich  experiences  of 
strength  and  joy  imparted,  is  effete  and  passing 


134  THE    SUPREME   AIM    OF   LIFE. 

away,  and  yet  they  acknowledge  that  they  are  blind 
and  in  the  dark.  They  say,  "Never  did  tempest- 
tossed  mariner  long  for  the  haven  more  earnestly 
than  we  for  some  certain  light.  We  cry  aloud  in 
the  dark,  and  the  only  answer  is  the  wailing  echo 
of  our  own  cry."  These  men,  groping  in  the  dark, 
wailing  in  their  wretched  orphanage,  have  not  only 
utterly  failed  to  convince  us  that  we  should  renounce 
our  blessed  Christianity  for  their  blank  and  cheer- 
less system,  but  they  have  convinced  us  that  they 
are  totally  ignorant  of  the  religion  they  criticise, 
furnishing  an  illustration  of  the  word,  "These 
things  are  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent." 

We  can  never  be  convinced  that  a  system,  the 
sum  of  whose  teaching  is  love  supreme  to  a  holy 
and  wise  God,  and  love  to  our  fellow,  love  such  as 
we  have  for  ourselves,  can  become  effete  or  out  of 
date.  Those  Ten  Commandments  given  in  the  dim 
twilight  of  the  past,  and  thousands  of  years  before 
science  had  its  birth — given,  not  like  the  laws  of 
England  and  America,  as  the  gradual  growth  of 
centuries,  but  as  Minerva  from  Jupiter's  brain,  wis- 
dom full-formed  and  perfect — those  ten  precepts  can 
never  be  annulled  with  safety.  Written  with  the 
finger  of  God  in  the  rock,  the  imperishable  nature 
of  man,  they  must  live  forever.  The  human  mind 
can  conceive  of  no  grander  life  than  such  as  is  the 
prompting  of  supreme  love  to  a  holy  and  good  God, 
and  a  proper  love  to  humanity.  Such  a  rule  of  life 
would  banish  all  selfishness,  all  purposed  wrong, 
exalt  mankind  to  its  highest  point  of  excellence, 
and  make  of  earth  a  paradise.  As  well  say,  Because 


THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE.  135 

the  soil  is  now  cultivated  with  more  skill,  the  old 
king  of  day  has  grown  effete,  and  we  need  a  new 
sun,  as  to  teach  that  because  there  is  now  more 
mental  culture,  and  because  eccentric  or  self-suffi- 
cient men  now — as  indeed  they  have  done  in  all 
ages — fail  to  see  the  excellency  of  the  Christian  sys- 
tem, we  need  a  new  Sun  of  righteousness.  No!  no! 
Man  can  never  be  elevated  above  the  claims  of  the 
law  of  love,  and  will  never  be  so  strong  that  he  will 
not  need  aid,  so  that  he  may  measure  up  to  its 
claims.  After  all  that  has  yet  been  said,  the  truth 
remains  that  the  serious  men  of  this  age  and  of  our 
country  believe  that  the  Bible  contains  the  rule  of 
life  appointed  by  Heaven  for  man.  The  evidences 
of  its  divine  authority  are  ample  and  conclusive. 
Its  teachings  find  much  corroboration  in  our  own 
experience,  and  we  admit  them  to  be  true.  Now, 
this  word  tells  us  that  not  worldly  success,  but  a 
holy,  noble  character,  and  right  conduct,  are  the  true 
end  of  life. 

The  conviction  is  in  our  minds,  too,  that  success 
and  right  are  entirely  distinct — that  they  may  not 
be  found  always  united  in  the  life  of  the  same  indi- 
vidual. Right  has  reference  to  the  rule  and  the  aim 
of  life — success,  to  our  achievements.  He  who  aims 
to  develop  all  his  powers  to  glorify  God  by  useful- 
ness to  man,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Golden  Rule, 
furnishes  an  example  of  right  conduct.  He  who 
conquers  the  outer  world  to  himself  gains  wealth, 
or  fame,  and  power,  among  men — secures  success. 
Now,  our  own  nature,  that  which  we  feel  to  be  au- 
thoritative in  our  minds,  commands  us  to  heed  the 


136  THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE. 

law  of  right,  whatever  may  become  of  success. 
Our  convictions  harmonize  with  the  divine  law  in 
teaching  that  the  true  end  of  life  is  that  to  which 
we  are  prompted  by  love  to  God  and  to  man;  they 
both  unite  in  the  charge — 

Be  just,  and  fear  not: 

Let  all  the  ends  thou  aim'st  at  be  thy  country's, 
Thy  God's,  and  truth's. 

When,  then,  we  -seek  success  at  the  expense  of 
right,  we  not  only  defy  God,  but  we  spurn  the  au- 
thority of  our  own  mind — we  trample  under  foot 
the  law  of  our  own  nature.  Is  there  no  sin  in  this? 
to  do  violence  to  our  own  convictions,  and  to  turn 
lightly  away  from  the  divine  command? 

How  great,  how  heinous  the  sin,  none  can  esti- 
mate till  he  is  able  to  comprehend  the  majesty  and 
grandeur  of  the  divine  nature,  and  to  estimate  the 
value  of  peace,  order,  and  righteousness  to  a  govern- 
ment whose  extent  is  unlimited,  whose  period  is 
eternity,  and  whose  citizens,  with  godlike  natures, 
no  man  can  number.  God,  the  Infinite,  the  Incom- 
prehensible, the  Awful  One;  he  who  can  say,  I  kill 
and  I  make  alive,  I  wound  and  I  heal,  I  lift  up  my 
hand  to  heaven,  and  say,  I  live  forever;  he  who 
whets  his  glittering  sword,  and,  taking  hold  on 
judgment,  renders  vengeance  to  his  enemies;  he 
who  is  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering,  and 
abundant  in  goodness  and  truth;  who  built  the  uni- 
verse by  his  word,  and  upholds  its  worlds  by  the 
might  of  his  will — this  grand,  unique  Being,  infinite 
in  nature  and  absolute  in  perfection,  fearful  in  maj- 
esty and  power,  has  proclaimed  himself  the  cham- 


THE   SUPREME   AIM    OF   LIFE.  137 

pion  of  right — right  under  all  circumstances,  at  all 
hazards,  whatever  may  be  its  relation  to  worldly 
success.  To  the  extent  of  his  resources  of  wisdom 
and  power  has  he  declared  that  he  will  uphold  and 
establish  the  cause  of  right.  So  important  did  he 
deem  it  to  the  honor  and  stability  of  his  govern- 
ment, to  the  interests  of  his  subjects,  that  no  doubt 
should  linger  around  this  question,  he  spared  not 
his  own  Son  to  make  it  clear.  His  fellow  and  equal, 
his  well-beloved  Son,  undertook  the  cause  of  right. 
But  it  happened  that  the  path  of  right  led  him 
away  from  the  path  of  worldly  success.  To  do 
right  in  his  sphere  on  earth  he  must  stand  alone, 
and  see  his  wisdom  reviled  and  his  counsel  spurned; 
he  must  be  poor,  without  a  shelter  for  his  head, 
"despised  and  rejected  of  men,  a  man  of  sorrows, 
and  acquainted  with  grief;"  he  must  be  condemned 
unjustly,  mocked,  and  scourged,  and  crucified,  amid 
the  hootings  of  the  rabble  and  the  sneers  of  the 
rulers;  he  must  endure  all  that  is  suggested  by  the 
words,  "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto 
death,"  and  by  the  thrice-repeated  cry,  "  0  my 
Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me! " 
and  yet  the  Father  makes  no  effort  to  relieve  his 
well-beloved,  and  the  Son  makes  no  effort  to  dash 
that  cup  of  gall  from  his  lips.  The  Father  saw  the 
shrinking  of  his  Son;  he  heard,  as  the  dark  cloud 
gathered  over  him,  his  lamentable  wail,  "  My  God, 
my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  and  yet,  the 
Father  approving,  and  the  Son  enduring,  they  vin- 
dicated the  right;  they  taught  on  a  platform  visible 
to  the  universe,  and  with  an  emphasis  that  made  all 


138  THE   SUPKEME    AIM   OF   LIFE. 

the  domain  of  darkness  to  tremble,  that  any  sacri- 
fice, however  great,  or  suffering,  however  intense, 
must  be  endured  rather  than  swerve  from  the  right. 
We  see  this  effort  of  the  Eternal  Father  to  establish 
a  kingdom  of  light,  strong  in  truth  and  righteous- 
ness, a  kingdom  with  absolute  repulsion,  in  absolute 
antagonism,  to  the  kingdom  of  darkness;  we  see 
him  interested  to  the  limit  of  his  resources,  and  to 
the  extent  of  the  sacrifice  of  his  only-begotten  Son ; 
we  hear  his  summons  to  all  intelligences  to  rally  to 
the  standard  of  right;  and  yet,  in  the  light  of  this 
great  interest,  and  of  this  mighty  struggle,  and  of 
this  authoritative  call,  we  abandon  right  for  a  mess 
of  pottage.  Our  conscience,  the  recognized  regent 
in  our  mental  nature,  sides  with  God;  we  feel  and 
know  that  we  cannot  answer  the  questioning  of  our 
own  nature,  nor  the  demands  of  Jehovah,  if  under 
any  pressure  we  swerve  from  the  right,  and  bow 
down  to  the  idols  of  the  Nebuchadnezzars  of  this 
world.  And  can  we  disregard  God  and  conscience, 
and  be  guiltless?  Can  we  adopt  the  policy  of  King 
Ahaz,  and  because  we  see  others  reach  worldly  suc- 
cess by  unrighteous  methods,  can  we  worship  mam- 
mon, or  the  goddess  of  pleasure,  and  say,  Because 
these  gods  prosper  their  worshipers  we  will  sacrifice 
to  them,  that  they  may  help  us — can  we  act  thus 
and  be  without  sin?  Ah,  no,  my  brethren.  We 
need  no  grand  assize,  no  great  white  throne,  no  un- 
erring Judge,  to  settle  this  question.  Our  own 
hearts — interested  judges — in  the  very  days  of  our 
success,  will  ever  declare  such  conduct  sinful.  As 
the  Jews,  to  their  own  condemnation,  said,  "He 


THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE.  139 

will  miserably  destroy  those  wicked  husbandmen, 
and  let  out  the  vineyard  to  others,"  so  we  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  brand  as  sinful  every  act  which  seeks  suc- 
cess at  the  expense  of  right.  Who  can  draw  in 
colors  sufficiently  dark  the  conduct  of  Balaam, 
laboring  to  move  Jehovah  to  curse  Israel,  to  destroy 
an  entire  nation — God's  chosen  ones — that  Balaam 
might  secure  the  wages  of  iniquity,  the  reward  of 
Balak?  And  when  the  kingdoms  of  light  and  dark-- 
ness, truth  and  error,  are  arrayed  in  deadly  hostility, 
when  we  recognize  that  the  very  existence  of  order, 
peace,  and  blessedness,  in  the  universe,  depends  on 
the  triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  truth,  and  see  that 
God  and  all  the  good  are  staking  all  on  the  success 
of  the  right,  what  can  be  said  of  us  if,  for  a  tempo- 
rary gain — wealth,  pleasure,  power — we  abandon 
the  right,  and  ally  ourselves  with  the  armies  of 
vice?  0  brethren,  we  shall  need  no  word  from  the 
King  on  that  day!  Our  own  consciences  will  stamp 
the  brand  of  guilt  on  the  soul,  and  drive  us  away  to 
the  kingdom  of  darkness. 

We  remark,  that  if  this  conduct  of  Ahaz  is  wick- 
ed, it  is  characterized  also  by  signal  folly.  God  has 
taught,  as  clearly  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit, 
that  "  he  who  walketh  uprightly,  walketh  surely  " — 
that  the  right,  and  all  the  friends  of  the  right,  will 
ultimately  triumph.  In  such  a  world  as  ours,  tempo- 
ral success  to  all  the  servants  of  God,  and  because 
they  serve  him,  would  not  accord  with  the  highest 
wisdom.  The  government  of  God  among  men  seeks 
to  develop,  strengthen,  and  manifest  character.  We 
are  unable  to  see  how  our  first  parents  could  have 


140  THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE. 

developed  or  manifested  character  if  there  had  been 
no  temptation.  Doing  the  divine  will  as  easily  and 
as  naturally  as  the  stream  flows  down  its  channel, 
would  develop  no  character,  and  secure  no  com- 
mendation. We  must  have  burdens  to  lift  before 
we  can  gain  strength.  Or  how  could  we  manifest 
character — devotion  to  the  right  and  love  for  God — 
if  worldly  prosperity  were  invariably  the  result  of 
obedience  to  God?  Perhaps  the  strongest  desire 
of  the  natural  man  is  for  worldly  success — riches, 
honors,  power.  If  these  should  always  be  given  to 
the  children  of  God,  how  could  it  be  shown  that 
they  who  professed  loyalty  to  Jehovah  really  loved 
him  and  his  law?  "When  Satan  should  appear,  as 
he  did  in  the  case  of  Job,  and  charge  that  these  all 
serve  God  because  he  puts  a  hedge  about  them,  and 
prospers  them  on  every  side,  how  could  his  cavil  be 
met?  The  most  selfish  and  base  would,  of  course, 
rally  to  Christ's  standard  under  this  arrangement; 
the  great,  carnal  crowd,  as  of  old,  would  be  in  haste 
to  make  him  a  king,  but  only  a  bread-king — not 
the  King  of  truth  and  righteousness.  The  blighting 
of  temporal  schemes,  the  withholding  of  worldly 
success,  is  one  of  the  burdens,  one  of  the  forms  of 
trial,  to  which  God  wisely  subjects  his  people,  that, 
like  their  great  Captain,  they  may  be  "  made  perfect 
through  sufferings,"  and  demonstrate,  under  any 
pressure,  in  every  trial,  their  loyalty  to  the  right. 

Should  absolute  worldly  prosperity  be  always  the 
lot  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  there  would  be  no 
grand  character  among  men  constant  under  pressure 
and  gold  in  the  furnace;  no  patient  endurance,  no 


THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE.  141 

heroic  self-sacrifice,  no  manifestation  of  love  to 
truth  stronger  than  love  of  life,  no  victorious  shout 
from  the  scaffold  or  the  stake,  "The  blood  of  the 
martyr  is  the  seed  of  the  Church,"  no  possible  way 
of  proving  to  a  gainsaying  generation  how  sweet 
and  all-conquering  is  the  love  of  God. 

Jehovah,  in  the  history  of  his  people,  has  taught 
on  a  national  platform  the  connection  of  prosperity 
with  righteousness;  he  has  given  many  illustrations 
in  the  case  of  individuals  of  prosperity  because  of 
fidelity  to  the  truth;  he  declares,  in  the  most  em- 
phatic manner,  that  it  shall  be  well  with  the  right- 
eous; "that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  God;"  and  he  has  impressed  the 
conviction  on  the  minds  of  all  his  people  that  the 
faithful  shall  be  blessed  forevermore.  And  while 
the  man  of  integrity  often  fails  of  worldly  success, 
it  is  a  great  slander  upon  God  and  his  intelligent 
creatures  to  hold  that  selfish  principles  and  corrupt 
practices  are  essential  to  prosperity.  The  active, 
enterprising,  industrious  man,  who  honors  God  and 
loves  his  neighbor,  will  most  frequently  be  success- 
ful in  business.  "  The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are 
all  numbered,"  and  not  a  sparrow  "shall  fall  on  the 
ground  without  your  Father."  "  Fear  ye  not  there- 
fore, ye  are  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows." 
"  For  your  Heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  you  have 
need  of  all  these  things,"  and  whatsoever  success  is 
best  for  them  he  will  grant  to  his  faithful  ones.  He 
has  done  all  that  could  be  done  through  his  word, 
and  providence,  and  Spirit,  to  convince  us,  and  he 
has  convinced  us,  that  devotion  to  right  will  secure 


142  THE   SUPREME   AIM    OF   LIFE. 

ultimate  and  eternal  prosperity.  How  unwise,  with 
this  conviction  upon  us,  to  turn  aside  from  the  path 
that  leads  to  countless  riches  and  fadeless  glory,  that 
we  may  pluck  the  fruit  of  Sodom,  or  obtain  "  the 
meat  that  perisheth !  " 

The  folly  of  this  course  will  appear  more  evident 
when  we  remember  that  worldly  success  at  the  ex- 
pense of  right  conduct  is  not  a  blessing,  but  a  curse; 
not  a  stepping-stone  to  aid  us  in  our  upward  prog- 
ress, but  a  millstone  to  sink  us  deeper  in  darkness 
arid  difficulty.  The  divine  word  says,  "  They  that 
will  be  rich  fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and 
into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which  drown 
men  in  destruction  and  perdition."  "  Go  to  now,  ye 
rich  men;  weep  and  howl  for  your  miseries  that  shall 
come  upon  you.  Your  riches  are  corrupted,  your 
gold  and  silver  are  cankered,  and  the  rust  of  them 
shall  be  a  witness  against  you,  and  shall  eat  your 
flesh  as  it  were  tire.  Behold,  the  hire  of  the  laborers, 
which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud,  crieth."  "  He 
that  makest  haste  to  be  rich  shall  not  be  innocent." 
These  words  are  not  directed  against  rich  men  be- 
cause they  are  rich.  Riches  are  a  talent,  and  may 
bring  a  great  reward  to  their  possessor.  If  wise  in 
their  use,  he  will  make  friends  who  will  receive  him 
into  everlasting  habitations.  He  will  secure  the 
approval  of  the  King,  and  be  intrusted  with  tenfold 
more  possessions.  Wealth  is  a  talent  of  great  pow- 
er. The  rich  man  of  the  present  age  occupies  a 
vantage-ground  for  the  securement  of  improvement 
to  his  race,  honor  to  himself,  and  glory  to  God,  sel- 
dom reached  by  other  classes — a  vantage-ground  of 


THE    SUPREME    AIM   OP   LIFE.  143 

great  possibilities,  but  imposing  fearful  responsibili- 
ties. The  warnings  of  these  scriptures  are  directed 
to  those  who,  like  King  Ahaz,  make  worldly  success 
the  ruling  aim  of  life  —  those  who  will  be  rich, 
who  hasten  to  be  rich,  who,  at  all  hazards,  by  fraud, 
oppression,  keeping  back  the  hire,  are  resolved  to 
accumulate — too  restive  to  tread  the  sure  path  of 
providence,  they  resort  to  all  tricks  and  devices — 
any  scheme,  any  plan,  by  which  they  may  hasten  to 
be  rich. 

The  wise  man,  guided  by  inspiration,  says, "  There 
is  a  sore  evil  which  I  have  seen  under  the  sun: 
riches  kept  for  the  owners  thereof  to  their  hurt. 
But  those  riches  perish  by  evil  travail,  and  he  beget- 
teth  a  son,  and  there  is  nothing  in  his  hand.  As  he 
came  forth  of  his  mother's  womb,  naked  shall  he 
return  to  go  as  he  came,  and  shall  take  nothing  of 
his  labor  which  he  may  carry  away  in  his  hand." 
"And  what  profit  hath  he  that  hath  labored  for  the 
wind?  All  his  days  also  he  eateth  in  darkness,  and 
bath  much  sorrow  and  wrath  with  his  sickness." 
"What  a  picture!  and  how  often  verified  in  the  life 
of  those  who  make  worldly  success  their  highest 
aim!  Riches  gained  and  kept  for  the  owners  there- 
of to  their  hurt!  Secured  by  evil  practices,  they 
bind  their  possessors  to  those  evil  practices  by  all 
the  strength  of  their  influence.  Their  splendid 
mansions  and  hoarded  treasures  stand  between  them 
and  eternal  life.  Each  one  whose  success  is  the  re- 
sult of  wrong  may  well  say, 

What  form  of  prayer 
Can  serve  my  turn  ?     Forgive  my  foul  murder! 


144  THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE. 

That  cannot  be,  since  I  am  still  possessed 
Of  those  effects  for  which  I  did  the  murder — • 
My  crown,  my  own  ambition,  and  my  queen. 
May  one  be  pardoned  and  retain  the  offense  ? 
In  the  corrupted  currents  of  this  world, 
Offense's  gilded  hand  may  shove  by  justice; 
And  oft  'tis  seen,  the  wicked  prize  itself 
Buys  out  the  law ;  but  'tis  not  so  above. 
There  is  no  shuffling,  there  the  action  lies 
In  its  true  nature;  and  we  ourselves  compelled, 
Even  to  the  teeth  and  forehead  of  our  faults, 
To  give  in  evidence. 

No  one  can  say,  with  any  hope  of  success,  Forgive 
my  foul  offense,  while  he  holds  with  loving  clutch 
the  fruits  of  that  offense.  To  enter  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  his  penitence  must  be  so  genuine  as  to 
command  restoration  as  far  as  possible.  And  how 
many  of  the  multitude,  who  have  made  worldly 
success  their  chief  end,  can  receive  this  saying? 
The  rich  young  ruler,  whose  morals  were  pure, 
weighing  heaven  and  earth,  deliberately  turned 
away  from  the  proffered  crown  of  eternal  life,  that 
he  might  still  possess  his  earthly  treasure.  But 
when  our  purpose  at  the  beginning,  and  every  step 
onward,  is  a  practical  subordination  of  every  thing 
to  the  one  object  of  worldly  success,  how  can  we, 
with  wrong  principles  strengthened  by  life-long  ex- 
ercise, with  a  conscience  seared,  with  the  entire  mor- 
al nature  perverted  through  the  love  of  gain — how, 
when  called  to  repentance,  can  we  tear  away  our 
hearts,  so  wedded  to  our  treasures,  and  restore  those 
treasures  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake?  The 
man  who  subordinates  all  things  to  worldly  success, 
and  is  therefore  at  liberty  to  gain,  and  liable  to  gain, 


THE    SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE.  145 

by  evil  practices,  knows  not  what  he  does.  As  the 
mason,  building  day  by  day  the  lofty  tower  from 
whose  summit  he  is  to  fall  and  be  dashed  to  pieces, 
so  this  man  is  binding  himself,  with  well-nigh  ada- 
mantine bonds;  and  through  principles  and  practices 
strengthening  daily,  and  with  all  the  weight  of  his 
accumulating  treasures,  he  is  throwing  up  almost 
insurmountable  difficulties  across  the  track  that 
leads  to  life.  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through 
a  needle's  eye  than  for  such  a  rich  man  to  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  And  how  often  these  ill-got- 
ten gains  bring  ruin  to  our  children!  With  God's 
curse  upon  them,  too,  the  same  evil  practices  by 
which  they  were  accumulated  tear  them  from  us — 
they  perish  by  evil  travail.  How  often  does  such 
success  vanish  as  the  morning  cloud  and  early  dew ! 
It  comes,  bringing  in  its  train  into  the  household 
idleness,  extravagance,  vanity,  and  pride  often,  and 
as  it  departs,  leaving  its  wretched  train,  a  heritage 
of  woe,  it  croaks  in  our  ear  the  sad  inquiry,  Where 
is  now  thy  god?  "What  profit  hath  he  that  hath 
labored  for  the  wind?" 

Whether  retained  or  not,  their  possessor  "  all  his 
days  eateth  in  darkness,  and  hath  much  sorrow  and 
wrath  with  his  sickness."  As  he  nears  the  end  of 
life,  conscience  will  gather  about  him  the  victims 
of  his  wrong,  who  will  take  up  a  parable  and  taunt- 
ing proverb  against  him,  and  say,  "Woe  to  him 
that  increaseth  that  which  is  not  his  own!  Woe  to 
him  that  gaineth  an  evil  gain  to  his  house,  that  he 
may  set  his  nest  on  high !  The  stone  shall  cry  out 
of  the  wall,  and  the  beam  out  of  the  timber  shall 


146  THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF  LIFE. 

answer  it.  Woe  to  him  that  buildeth  a  town  with 
blood,  and  establisheth  a  city  by  iniquity!"  The 
great  Teacher  makes  the  solemn  inquiry,  "  What  is 
a  man  profited  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world  and 
lose  his  own  soul?  " 

When  we  survey  man  as  he  is  —  so  grand  and 
godlike  in  his  nature  that  earth,  with  all  its  treas- 
ures, its  Elysian  fields,  its  Tempean  vales,  its  happy 
isles,  its  voluptuousness,  its  magnificence  and  grand- 
eur, could  never  satisfy  him  —  when  we  view  him 
with  so  vast  capacities,  and  yet  destined  to  live  and 
grow  forever,  and  then  think  of  his  deliberately 
wrecking  these  immortal  energies,  and  bartering  all 
that  is  implied  in  eternal  life  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  for  worldly  gain — a  gain  that  cannot  satisfy, 
a  gain  that  can  last  only  for  a  transient  flash  of 
time — we  are  constrained  to  acknowledge  that  there 
is  infinite  folly  in  the  transaction. 

Who  in  all  the  range  of  history  has  found  world- 
ly success  at  the  sacrifice  of  right  profitable?  Jez- 
ebel and  Ahab  secured  the  vineyard  of  Naboth; 
Judas  got  his  thirty  pieces  of  silver;  but  did  they 
bring  a  blessing  in  their  train?  The  rich  man,  who 
said  to  his  soul,  "Take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink,  and 
be  merry,"  has  no  crime  laid  at  his  door  but  that 
of  making  worldly  gain  and  its  enjoyment  the  chief 
end  of  life;  and  when  God  tears  him  away  from  his 
treasures,  and,  branding  fool  upon  his  forehead, 
sends  him  out  into  a  dark  universe  without  a  far- 
thing or  a  friend,  he  but  gives  another  illustration 
of  the  great  folly  of  valuing  worldly  prosperity 
above  right  and  responsibility. 


THE   SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE.  147 

Again,  the  success  is  always  transient.  Admit, 
if  you  please,  that  it  brings  a  blessing,  that  we  may 
obtain  and  enjoy  it  through  life  without  qualms  of 
conscience,  or  fears  of  the  future,  still  we  must  soon 
part  with  this  source  of  enjoyment.  We  shall  retain 
a  remembrance  of  it,  and  that  remembrance  will  be 
a  bright  background,  which  will  but  intensify  the 
gloom  of  our  eternal  future.  "  Son,  remember  that 
thou  in  thy  life-time  receivedst  thy  good  things,  and 
now  thou  art  tormented."  The  sad  contrast  will 
live  forever.  But  as  a  blessing,  a  source  of  enjoy- 
ment, our  worldly  success,  if  secured  by  making  it 
the  supreme  object  in  life,  parts  with  us  forever  at 
death.  To  our  rank  and  power,  our  treasures  and 
honors,  at  the  end  of  life  here,  we  must  bid  a  final 
farewell.  As  a  blight  to  our  joy,  a  curse  upon  our 
brow,  or  a  millstone  about  our  neck,  these  may 
survive ;  but  as  blessings  they  part  with  us  at  the 
grave.  I  care  not  how  vast  our  possessions,  or  lofty 
our  throne.  As  we  walk  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
^Babylon  which  we  have  built  by  the  might  of  our 
power,  our  great  success  may  prompt  us  to  believe 
that  we  shall  ascend  into  heaven  and  exalt  our  throne 
above  the  stars  of  God,  that  we  shall  be  like  the  Most 
High,  that  our  mountain  shall  never  be  moved;  but 
soon  the  grave  will  be  moved  at  our  coming.  Our 
enemies  will  break  forth  into  singing,  "  Hast  thou 
become  like  one  of  us?  how  art  thou  fallen  from 
heaven,  O  day-star,  son  of  the  morning! "  We  have 
surveyed,  in  the  light  of  history,  the  great  kingdoms 
which  have  ruled  the  world,  and  we  learned  that 
the  mighty  monarchs,  surrounded  by  their  posses- 


148  THE    SUPREME   AIM    OF   LIFE. 

sions,  and  guarded  by  invincible  legions,  at  the  be- 
hest of  the  great  King  each  one  was  compelled  to 
leave  all  and  return  to  the  dust. 

Almost  in  our  century  a  mighty  god  of  war  arose, 
who  threatened  to  subdue  the  earth.  His  lowering 
brow  shrouded  in  darkness  the  political  horizon  of 
the  world.  At  his  nod  nations  trembled.  As  his 
humor  dictated,  he  pulled  down  and  set  up  king- 
doms. His  disciplined  armies,  his  vast  conquests, 
his  stronghold  in  the  affections  of  his  people,  his 
towering  genius  and  invincible  will,  seemed  to 
promise  for  him  permanent  power.  Surely,  if  any 
could  resist  the  stern  rule  of  fate,  and  lift  his  throne 
above  the  clouds  and  the  reach  of  change,  it  was  this 
mighty  god  of  war.  But  soon  we  see  him  contem- 
plating the  setting  sun  as  he  throws  his  lingering 
beams  on  the  wide  waste  of  waters.  His  crown 
dishonored,  his  scepter  broken,  his  power  gone,  far 
from  his  home  and  his  kingdom,  without  any  army 
or  a  soldier,  poor  and  naked,  he  went  down  to  his 
grave  in  a  rocky  isle  of  the  ocean.  We  have  seen 
but  as  yesterday  the  young  man  who  would  be  rich. 
With  eager  zeal  he  proclaimed  Mammon  as  his  god, 
and  worshiped  at  his  altars.  Wealth  came,  millions 
were  poured  into  his  coffers,  yet  in  the  prime  of  life, 
forsaken  of  his  own  god,  haunted  by  an  evil  con- 
science, pursued  by  men  and  cursed  of  Jehovah,  in 
a  felon's  cell  he  went  down  to  his  grave,  "  unwept, 
unhonored,  and  unsung,"  and  inspiration  writes  his 
memorial,  "  He  that  getteth  riches,  and  not  by  right, 
shall  leave  them  in  the  midst  of  his  days,  and  at 
his  end  shall  be  a  fool."  The  world  hath  seen  error 


THE   SUPREME   AIM   Ol1   LIFE.  149 

and  wrong  trample  down  all  opposition,  and  stalk 
the  earth  as  a  mighty  giant.  Ascending  the  lofty 
summit  of  success,  we  have  seen  it  crowned,  and 
wave  its  palm  in  triumph;  but  there,  on  its  pinnacle 
of  glory,  and  amid  the  exultant  songs  of  its  disci- 
ples,*we  have  seen  it  languish  and  die. 

Error,  wounded,  writhes  in  pain, 
And  dies  among  her  worshipers. 

God's  curse  rests  upon  it,  and  it  must  be  crushed. 
As  Jezebel  and  Ahab  had  learned,  when  the  dogs 
licked  their  blood  and  ate  their  flesh  by  the  wall  of 
Jezreel,  and  in  the  portion  of  Naboth;  as  Judas  felt 
when  the  price  of  innocent  blood  so  burnt  in  his 
conscience  that  he  threw  it  from  him  and  hanged 
himself;  as  all  the  tyrants  and  monsters  of  iniquity 
whom  history  has  branded  have  learned,  under  the 
ruling  of  Jehovah,  so  every  one,  however  lofty  or 
low  his  station,  shall  be  taught,  and  feel  with  strong 
intensity,  that  any  success  secured  at  the  sacrifice 
of  right,  or  through  subordinating  right  to  worldly 
prosperity.,  is  a  bitter  curse,  and  never  a  blessing. 

Jehovah  has  declared  that  he  who  subordinates 
right  conduct  and  eternal  life  to  worldly  success — 
chooses  his  "  good  things "  in  this  world — shall  be 
bound  in  the  next  world  by  that  choice;  that  he 
who  barters  the  divine  approval  and  heaven  for  a 
mess  of  pottage  shall  not  be  counted  worthy  to 
enter  his  kingdom.  He  assures  us  that  the  feet  of 
such  "  shall  slide  in  due  time,"  that  "  they  stand  in 
slippery  places."  While  the  righteous  "shall  flour- 
ish like  the  palm-tree,"  green  and  vigorous  through 
winter's  frost  and  summer's  drought,  and  "grow 


150  THE    SUPREME   AIM    OF   LIFE. 

like  a  cedar  in  Lebanon,"  whose  age  is  counted  by 
centuries;  while  they  shall  stand  like  Mount  Zion, 
that  can  never  be  moved,  "  the  wicked  shall  spring  " 
only  "as  the  grass,"  and  "the  workers  of  iniquity 
flourish,  that  they  shall  be  destroyed  forever; "  they 
shall  not  prosper,  a  ruin  shall  overtake  them  Suffi- 
ciently awful  to  send  a  pang  through  all  the  realms 
of  benevolence  and  love.  "  I  have  seen  the  wicked 
in  great  power,  and  spreading  himself  like  a  green 
bay-tree;  yet  he  passed  away,  and  lo,  he  was  not; 
yea,  I  sought  him,  but  he  could  not  be  found." 

Away,  then,  with  the  idea  everywhere,  that  we 
must  have  success,  wealth,  fame,  power!  These  are 
not  necessary;  they  can  never  satisfy;  if  made 
supreme,  they  never  ennoble,  but  dwarf  and  de- 
grade; they  perish  in  the  using,  and  must  all  be 
abandoned  at  the  grave.  But  a  good  conscience 
and  God's  approval  are  essential.  These  give  a 
power  which  all  the  wealth  and  armed  legions  of 
the  world  cannot  equal,  and  will  sustain  in  peace 
and  assurance  "  when  suns  have  waned  and  worlds 
sublime  their  final  revolutions  told."  Away  with 
that  demoralizing  notion  that  "  nature  chooses  the 
fittest" — -fittest  signifying  those  who  gain  secular 
wealth  and  power;  that  they  alone  are  valuable,  or 
worthy  to  live,  who  can  press  themselves  into  the 
front  ranks  of  worldly  success!  Away  with  the  un- 
principled and  cowardly  example  of  this  degenerate 
king,  teaching  that  our  methods  and  our  very  God 
may  be  abandoned  in  the  hope  of  gaining  a  success 
which,  like  a  millstone,  will  sink  us  forever!  Diffi- 
cult it  is  to  get  beyond  the  shadow  of  this  world. 


THE    SUPREME   AIM   OF   LIFE.  151 

Its  palpable  influence  is  ever  present;  the  circling 
waves  of  its  power,  as  a  mighty  maelstrom,  drive 
us  along  their  whirling  track.  Its  ease,  its  wealth, 
its  honors,  its  magnificence  and  splendor,  its  re- 
proach, and  scorn,  and  ridicule,  O  how  they  make 
the  brain  to  burn,  and  enslave  the  mind  !  But  we 
know  that  another  day  is  coming.  The  clock  of 
eternity  shall  strike  twelve;  the  visible  universe, 
waxed  old,  shall  be  folded  up  and  laid  aside  as  a 
garment,  and  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth 
shall  appear.  In  that  hour,  as  we  see  our  present 
home,  its  silver  and  gold,  its  honors  and  power, 
pass  away,  and  as  we  take  in  the  vast  scope  of  Je- 
hovah's reign  and  of  eternal  life,  in  what  light  will 
appear  the  choice  which  now  prefers  the  visible  and 
perishing  to  the  eternal — which  sides  with  the 
doomed  kingdom  of  evil,  repudiating  the  dynasty 
of  righteousness,  whose  flag  shall  wave  in  triumph 
forever?  How  ruinous  and  wicked  then  will  seem 
the  policy  which  says,  Because  these  practices  secure 
worldly  gain,  therefore  will  I  adopt  them! 

O  no !  stand  bravely  by  the  right,  and  seek  the 
return  of  the  heroic  days,  when  men  of  the  world 
could  say,  "  I  would  rather  be  right  than  ruler." 
I  would  rather  be  a  door-keeper  with  the  holy  than 
prosper  among  the  wicked!  Poor  you  may  be, 
possibly  starve,  but  the  angels  who  bore  Lazarus  to 
the  skies  have  lost  neither  power  of  opinion  nor 
loyalty*  to  the  will  of  our  Father.  Your  schemes 
and  plans  may  all  fail,  but  they  fail  in  the  cause 
and  under  the  eye  of  Him  who  knows  your  wants, 
and  who  is  pledged  to  make  "all  things  work  to- 


152  THE   SUPREME   AIM    OF   LIFE. 

gether  for  good"  to  his  friends.  You  may  be  the 
scorn  and  derision  of  the  prosperous  around  you, 
the  frown  of  the  world's  Caesars  may  rest  upon  yon, 
but  you  shall  have  the  countenance  and  the  smile 
of  the  King  of  kings.  Your  names  may  be  un- 
known to  the  registry  of  earth's  renowned,  but  they 
will  live  on  the  abiding  records  of  heaven.  No 
grand  mausoleum  may  stand  over  your  grave,  but 
God  will  mark  the  spot,  and  "  when  the  holy  angels 
come,  it  surely  will  be  found."  And  on  that  day 
when,  Truth's  reign  secured,  she  shall  raise  her  pae- 
ans of  everlasting  triumph,  you,  as  the  friends  of 
truth,  who  sold  it  not,  will  join  in  her  song  of  joy, 
and  shout,  "  They  shall  prosper  that  love  thee!" 


s 


THK   REV.  W.  T.    HARRIS,  D.D.. 
Of  the  Memj.liis .Conference, 


IX. 

THE  LAST  ENEMY. 

BY  THE  REV.  W.  T.  HARRIS, 

Memphis  Conference. 

"The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death."  I  Cor. 
xv.  26. 

WE  are  in  a  world  of  enemies — enemies  of  soul 
and  body.  Some  of  them  are  stout,  and  stubborn, 
and  cruel,  and  hard  to  overcome.  None  may  be 
entirely  subdued  and  conquered  without  assistance 
— without  divine  grace.  Our  souls  have  enemies 
all  about,  inside  of  us  and  outside  of  us,  and  they 
are  dangerous.  And  our  bodies  have  enemies  in 
the  earth,  in  the  sky,  in  the  air,  in  the  waters — 
everywhere. 

The  great  enemy  of  the  soul  is  sin,  for  all  the 
different  forms  of  evil,  and  foes  of  humanity,  with 
all  their  different  phases,  and  characters,  and  classes, 
and  degrees,  when  aggregated  and  considered,  may 
be  pronounced  in  one  word — sin. 

The  body  has  lustful  passions,  and  libidinous  pro- 
pensities, and  carnal  desires,  and  pains,  and  aches, 
and  many  infirmities — all  leading  to  and  resulting 
in  death.  According  to  the  teachings  of  the  text, 
the  last  enemy — "  death  " — shall  be  destroyed,  shall 
be  counterworked,  subverted,  and  finally  overturned. 
But  death  cannot  be  destroyed  by  there  being  sim- 
7*  (153) 


154  THE   LAST   ENEMY. 

ply  no  farther  death;  death  can  only  be  destroyed 
and  annihilated  by  a  general  resurrection.  Then,  if 
there  be  no  general  resurrection,  it  is  most  evident 
that  death  will  still  retain  his  empire.  Therefore, 
the  fact  that  death  shall  be  destroyed  assures  the 
fact  that  there  shall  be  a  general  resurrection;  and 
this  is  proof  also  that  after  the  resurrection  there 
shall  be  no  more  death. 

1.  The  resurrection  of  the  dead  is  no  new  doctrine. 
It  is  most  clearly  and  elaborately  taught,  and  fully 
explained,  in  the  New  Testament,  and  likewise  set 
forth,  and  with  the  utmost  exactitude,  in  the  Old 
Testament.  This  doctrine  is  as  old  as  the  Church 
of  God  —  believed  and  taught  by  patriarchs,  and 
prophets,  and  apostles — the  great  doctrine  of  every 
dispensation,  and  of  eve^  age  of  the  world. 

This  heaven-revealed  and  heaven-attested  truth, 
in  the  ages  long  gone,  kindled  the  fire  that  burned 
in  the  heart  and  flashed  in  the  eye  of  the  prophet 
of  God,  and  enabled  him  to  rise  above  the  darkling 
and  hurtling  clouds  of  mysticism,  and  pierce  the 
unborn  future,  and  read  on  the  ghastly  mouth  of 
the  moldering  tomb — light,  life,  immortality! 

Foreshadowed  all  over  the  Old  Testament.  Moses, 
the  earliest  writer,  and  who  gave  an  account  of  the 
creation  of  the  world,  and  man,  and  all  things  else, 
in  the  infancy  of  time,  when  the  young  world 
swung  down  in  the  warm,  fresh  breath  of  heaven, 
and  sparkled  in  the  early  dews  of  eternity,  believed 
it,  and  looked  forward  to  the  day  of  triumph.  How 
sublime  the  faith  of  that  grand  old  Jewish  legisla- 
tor, God's  own  amanuensis,  standing  near  the  burn- 


THE    LAST    ENEMY.  155 

ing  bush,  and  calling  the  Lord  "The  God  of  Abra- 
ham, and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob; 
for  he  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living!" 

And  Job,  the  very  embodiment  of  all  physical 
suffering,  and  disease,  and  persecution,  in  the  midst 
of  all  exultingly  shouted,  "I  know  that  my  Re- 
deemer liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand  at  the  latter 
day  upon  the  earth;  and  though  after  my  skin 
worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see 
God." 

And  Isaiah,  the  great  evangelical  prophet,  mourn- 
ing over  the  devastation  and  ruin  of  city,  and  coun- 
try, and  people,  attributing  all  to  the  just  judgments 
of  a  righteous  God :  "  For  thou  hast  made  of  a  city 
a  heap;  of  a  defensed  city  a  ruin;  a  palace  of 
strangers  to  be  no  city;  it  shall  never  be  built." 
And  of  the  people  he  said:  "They  are  dead,  they 
shall  not  live;  they  are  deceased,  they  shall  not  rise; 
thou  hast  destroyed  them,  and  made  all  their  mem- 
ory to  perish."  Then  he  rises  with  the  inspiration 
of  hope  thrilling  his  heart  and  flashing  in  his  eye, 
and  God's  own  living  fire  touching  his  tongue,  and 
in  the  majesty  of  unconquerable  faith  he  cries,  "  Thy 
dead  men  shall  live,  together  with  my  dead  body 
shall  they  arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in 
dust;  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the 
earth  shall  cast  out  the  dead."  And  language  equal- 
ly strong  and  pertinent  may  be  quoted  from  Daniel, 
Hosea,  and  others. 

2.  This  doctrine  was  derided  by  the  Greeks.  When 
Paul,  God's  great  apostle,  appeared  in  the  celebrated 
Grecian  city — Athens — and  stood  on  the  renowned 


156  THE   LAST  ENEMY. 

Areopagus,  or  hill  of  Mars,  in  the  midst  of  that 
pompons  court,  confronting  the  learned  infidelity 
and  false  philosophy  of  the  age,  and  preached  Jesus 
and  the  resurrection,  a  sublimer  exhibition  of  moral 
heroism,  and  intellectual  grandeur,  and  unflinching 
nerve,  the  world  never  saw.  "  It  is  not  possible  to 
conceive  a  situation  of  greater  peril,  or  one  more  cal- 
culated to  prove  the  sincerity  of  a  preacher,  than  that 
in  which  the  apostle  was  here  placed;  and  the  truth 
of  this,  perhaps,  will  never  be  better  felt  than  by  a 
spectator,  who  from  this  eminence  actually  beholds 
the  monuments  of  pagan  pomp  and  superstition  by 
which  he,  whom  the  Athenians  considered  as  the 
setter-forth  of  strange  gods,  was  then  surrounded — 
representing  to  the  imagination  the  disciples  of 
Socrates  and  of  Plato — the  dogmatist  of  the  Porch 
and  the  skeptic  of  the  Academy — addressed  by  a 
poor  and  lowly  man,  who,  'rude  in  speech,'  without 
the  'enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,'  enjoined  pre- 
cepts contrary  to  their  taste,  and  very  hostile  to  their 
prejudices." 

There  he  stood,  towering  above  that  sea  of  up- 
turned faces,  and  fiery,  glancing  eyes,  and  infuriated 
hearts  of  infidelity — the  unmoved,  intrepid  servant 
of  God,  like  a  beetling  rock  in  mid-ocean,  breasting 
the  waves,  lashed  by  the  wing  of  the  tempest — the 
grand,  God-sustained,  God-honored  apostle!  And 
above  the  low,  sullen  murmur  of  dissent,  and  the 
sharp,  loud  clamor  of  bitter  opposition,  rang  the 
heaven-inspired  words,  Jesus  and  the  resurrection! 

"Then  certain  philosophers  of  the  Epicureans 
and  of  the  Stoics  encountered  him,  and  some  said, 


THE   LAST   ENEMY.  157 

"What  will  this  babbler  say?  he  seemeth  to  be  a 
setter-forth  of  strange  gods.  And  when  they  heard 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  some  mocked,  and 
others  said,  We  will  hear  thee  again  of  this  mat- 
ter." After  their  derision  and  mocking,  some  be- 
lieved— and,  indeed,  all  the  Jews,  as  a  nation,  be- 
lieved this  doctrine — all  the  Pharisees,  all  the  scribes 
— only  the  Sadducees  dissenting. 

3.  The  resurrection  of  Christ  insures  the  resurrection 
of  humankind.  "Now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead, 
and  become  the  first  -  fruits  of  them  that  slept. 
For  since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all 
die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  But 
every  man  in  his  own  order:  Christ  the  first-fruits; 
afterward,  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming." 
After  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord,  his  body  was 
placed  in  the  new  tomb  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea, 
"  in  which  never  man  was  laid."  Of  course,  should 
a  resurrection  take  place,  it  must  be  that  of  Jesus 
— it  could  be  of  no  other  person.  On  the  third  day 
the  tomb  was  empty.  What  became  of  the  body? 
We  know  the  plain,  unvarnished  statement  of  the 
evangelists,  the  straightforward,  unembellished  way 
the  gospel  answers  the  question,  and  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  men,  and  angels,  and  God.  We  have  gone 
with  the  body  of  Jesus  from  the  cross  to  the  tomb; 
we  have  seen  the  tomb  sealed ;  have  left  the  Roman 
guard  at  the  mouth  of  the  sepulcher.  Now,  let  in- 
fidelity, the  chief  priests,  the  enemies  of  Christ, 
produce  the  body,  on  or  after  the  third  day,  in  order 
to  silence  the  clamor  of  the  deluded  multitude,  and 


158  THE    LAST   ENEMY. 

put  this  question  to  rest  forever.  We  have  read  the 
predictions  of  the  prophets  and  of  Jesus,  and  now 
the  eager  eyes  of  an  excited  world  are  fixed  with 
intensest  gaze  upon  the  result,  and  all  hearts  beat 
with  the  extremest  concernment;  but  show  the  dead 
body,  and  the  claims  of  Christianity  are  at  once  and 
forever  hushed:  her  fair  temple  totters  and  falls, 
and  with  a  crash  that  sends  waking  echoes  all  along 
down  the  ages,  and  through  all  time!  It  was  not 
done.  The  soldiers  say,  "  While  we  slept  the  disci- 
ples came  and  stole  it  away."  Where  are  the  dis- 
ciples? They  have  not  fled  the  country,  have  not 
attempted  to  escape;  here  they  are,  standing  up 
boldly  in  the  face  of  the  excited  multitude,  discom- 
fited infidelity,  and  enraged  chief  priests,  preaching, 
"He  is  risen;  come  see  the  place  where  he  lay." 
Why  did  they  not  arrest  the  disciples,  and  make 
them  produce  the  body  ?  They  had  all  power,  all 
authority — both  civil  and  military — and  the  blood- 
thirsty crowd,  the  influential  chief  priests,  and  the 
strong  military  arm  stretched  out  for  their  protec- 
tion and  assistance.  Why  did  they  not  arrest  and 
crucify  every  one  of  them?  They  put  to  death  the 
Master — surely  they  would  not  scruple  to  kill  the 
servants.  But  this  was  not  done.  Strange,  indeed ! 
Why  did  not  the  enemies  of  Jesus,  determined  to 
crush  Christianity  in  its  infancy,  seize  upon  this 
wonderful  advantage,  and  blot  out  every  record, 
every  word  of  the  doctrines  promulged  by  the 
great  impostor  and  his  despised  disciples?  The 
world  was  standing  on  tiptoe,  infidelity  raging,  and 
the  minds  of  the  people  inflamed  with  the  most  in- 


TI1E   LAST   ENEMY.  159 

veterate  hate.  Why  let  this  best  opportunity  the 
world  ever  saw  pass  by  unimproved?  They  had 
the  power,  the  authority,  and  the  sympathy,  of 
the  Roman  governor  and  the  whole  Jewish  nation. 
Under  the  law,  they  should  have  arrested  the  guards, 
who  were  self-convicted  and  self-condemned — sixty 
men  on  watch,  all  asleep  at  once — and  pronounced 
upon  them  the  penalty  of  the  law,  "Death."  That 
was  not  done.  Ah,  let  stultified  infidelity  blush  with 
very  shame ! 

What  became  of  the  crucified  body  of  Jesus?  In- 
fidelity has  never  answered  the  question,  and  never 
will. 

Hear  the  response  of  the  gospel — the  plain,  con- 
sistent, and  harmonious  statement  of  the  two  an- 
gels, all  of  the  apostles,  the  pious  women,  and  more 
than  five  hundred  brethren  at  once — "He  is  risen." 
Christianity  finds  the  crucified  body  of  our  blessed 
Lord,  but  it  is  not  dead,  but  alive  forevermore! 
Christianity  saw  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  tomb,  on 
the  way  to  Emmaus,  on  the  mountain-top,  on  the 
bright  cloud,  and  in  the  company  of  marshaling 
angels  ascending  to  the  right-hand  of  the  Majesty 
on  high !  Christianity  sees  him  to-day,  with  the 
eye  of  faith,  high  seated  upon  the  eternal  throne 
of  his  glory,  an  exalted  and  interceding  Saviour,  a 
High  -  priest  passed  into  the  heaven  of  heavens, 
where  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us. 
Pray  on,  thou  risen,  exalted,  glorified  One!  By  faith 
we  see  thee. 

4.  Order  of  the  resurrection.  The  dead  saints  will 
be  raised  first.  In  that  last  day  of  earth,  that  day 


160  THE   LAST   ENEMY. 

of  God's  power  and  glory,  into  which  the  destiny 
of  unnumbered  millions  will  be  crowded,  that  day 
of  nameless  terror  to  the  wicked,  of  ineffable  joy  to 
the  righteous,  and  of  unutterable  splendor  to  all, 
God  will  honor  his  followers.  When  all  the  aerial 
regions,  all  space  between  earth  and  heaven,  daz- 
zle with  the  glory  of  the  descending  Lord,  and 
brighten  with  the  flash  of  angelic  wings,  God  will 
dignify,  invest  with  honor,  and  glorify,  his  trusting 
saints.  "For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from 
heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archan- 
gel, and  with  the  trump  of  God,  and  the  dead  in 
Christ  shall  rise  first."  But  what  will  become  of 
the  saints  still  living,  who  have  never  tasted  death, 
never  gone  into  the  silence  of  the  grave,  still  walk- 
ing the  earth,  actively  engaged  with  the  vocations, 
and  professions,  and  duties,  of  this  life?  In  the 
gospel  plan  of  full  redemption  they  are  not  over- 
looked, not  forgotten.  "Then  we  which  are  alive 
and  remain  shall  be  caught  up  together  with  them 
in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air;  and  so 
shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord."  Then  the  wicked 
shall  be  raised ;  but  not  until  the  God-man  has 
gathered  up  all  his  jewels  from  the  earth,  and  from 
the  waters,  and  from  every  part  of  the  globe,  as 
brilliant  stars  with  which  to  bedeck  his  resplendent 
crown  of  glory  forever.  Not  until  the  joyful  meet- 
ing of  the  saints  with  the  Lord  in  the  air,  shall  the 
deep  slumber  of  a  sinner  be  disturbed,  or  a  grave 
cracked,  or  a  tomb  opened,  of  the  ungodly! 

When  the  wicked  do  come  forth,  it  will  be  to 
shame  and  everlasting  contempt.     "  They  that  have 


THE    LAST   ENEMY.  161 

done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life;  and  they 
that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  dam- 
nation." They  would  rather  slumber  on,  hid  for- 
ever in  the  thick  darkness  of  the  grave,  or  concealed 

deep  down  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  forever,  or  2:0 

.  .#-'' 

straight  to  hell,  than  meet  the  flashing  eye  ot  the 

omniscient  Judge,  and  see  the  bursting  light  of  that 
terrible  day.  And  when  they  do  come  at  God's 
command,  pale  and  trembling,  it  will  be  with  a  cry 
that  will  startle  the  earth,  and  ring  to  hell,  and 
thunder  to  heaven:  "Rocks  and  mountains,  fall 
upon  us,  and  hide  us  from  the  presence  of  Him  that 
sitteth  upon  the  throne ! " 

5.  Nature  of  the  resurrection -body.  We  may  say 
but  little  on  this  subject,  for  Paul  has  treated  it  with 
the  hand  of  a  master  and  the  heart  of  a  prophet. 
It  will  be  incorruptible,  not  subject  to  decay  —  will 
live  and  bloom  in  fadeless  beauty  and  immortal  joy. 
It  will  possess  glory  and  power.  "  Sown  in  weak- 
ness, raised  in  power."  How  much  glory,  and  how 
much  power,  God  only  knows;  and  with  what  ce- 
lestial brightness  and  supernatural  luster  it  will  be 
invested,  God  only  knows;  and  what  marvelous 
strength  and  wonderful  activity,  we  cannot  con- 
ceive. 

It  will  be  a  spiritual  body.  "Sown  a  natural 
body,  raised  a  spiritual  body."  And  above  all,  and 
grander  than  all,  it  will  be  like  Christ's  glorified  body. 
"  For  our  conversation  is  in  heaven,  from  whence 
also  we  look  for  the  Saviour,  who  shall  change  our 
vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his 
glorious  body."  "  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we 


102  THE   LAST    ENEMY. 

shall  be;  but  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear, 
we  shall  be  like  him."  "  I  shall  be  satisfied  when 
I  awake  with  thy  likeness." 

6.  The  resurrection  will  be  the  victory  over  man's  last 
enemy.  "  The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is 
death."  "Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory." 

Death,  king  of  terrors!  Thou  merciless,  vaunting, 
cruel,  triumphant  enemy  of  humankind!  Broad 
has  been  thy  empire,  stretching  from  pole  to  pole, 
from  north  to  south,  from  sea  to  sea,  engirding  the 
whole  earth!  Broad,  and  firm,  and  impregnable, 
and  high  as  heaven,  has  been  thy  throne,  built  of 
human  bones,  and  cemented  with  human  gore! 
And  the  din  and  noise  of  thy  building  was  the 
shriek  of  widowhood  and  the  cry  of  orphanage! 
Innumerable,  and  active,  and  cruel,  have  been  the 
agents,  and  emissaries,  and  engines  of  destruction, 
at  thy  command!  Long,  and  dreadful,  and  corn- 
passionless,  has  been  thy  reign  of  terror!  Thy 
bloody  scepter,  that  waved  over  dying  Abel,  has  ex- 
tended to  every  people,  every  country,  every  clime, 
every  tribe,  and  every  home-circle!  Where  is  there 
a  family  he  has  not  entered,  and  broken  into  frag- 
ments? a  heart  he  has  not  made  to  bleed?  an  eye 
he  has  not  learned  to  weep?  a  voice  he  has  not 
stifled  in  grief? 

And  on  he  strides  to-day,  building  cities,  and  peo- 
pling them  with  his  pale  and  pulseless  victims,  and 
scattering  solitary  graves  all  over  the  land,  and  fill- 
ing up  the  oceans  with  his  slain !  No  human  power 
can  stop  his  wild,  impetuous  tread;  no  human  hand 
can  wrench  from  his  grasp  the  iron  scepter;  no 


THE   LAST   ENEMY.  163 

voice  of  pleading,  nor  streaming  eye,  nor  breaking 
heart,  nor  bending  knee,  can  move  him  to  pity,  or 
drive  him  away.  O  there  is  but  one  Power  in  the 
universe  that  can  arrest  and  stop  his  triumphant 
march;  but  one  Arm  that  can  take  from  his  hand 
the  bloody  scepter;  but  one  Being  in  earth  or  heav- 
en that  can  conquer  and  drive  him  away! — the  Lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah!  And,  thank  God,  he  has  un- 
dertaken our  cause,  become  the  Captain  of  our  sal- 
vation, and  will  fight  our  battles  for  us,  and  over- 
throw our  enemies.  "And  the  last  enemy  that  shall 
be  destroyed  is  death." 

7.  Then  death  shall  be  dethroned;  his  empire  con- 
quered, subjugated;  his  sepulchral  cities  depopu- 
lated; his  solitary  graves  emptied;  oceans  dis- 
gorged! When  Jesus  speaks,  his  throne  shall  totter 
to  the  fall,  and  the  king  of  terrors  shall  come,  with 
unresisting  submission,  tamely  crouching  to  his  feet! 

Our  "  last "  great  "  enemy  "  has  heard  the  voice  of 
Jesus  before.  When  death,  that  tyrannical,  gloat- 
ing, cruel  monster,  reigned  over  the  grave  of  Laza- 
rus, and  the  bending  forms,  and  the  pleading  cries, 
and  the  gushing  tears,  and  breaking  hearts,  of  in- 
consolable sisters  could  not  move  his  merciless  heart, 
or  make  him  relinquish  his  cold  and  iron  grasp,  the 
omnipotent  voice  of  the  God-man  sounded  in  his 
ear,  and  then  he  quailed,  and  cowered,  and  turned 
him  loose! 

Jesus  met  him  once  in  the  city  of  Nain,  with  his 
mournful,  slow-moving  cortege,  holding  his  scepter 
over  the  only  son  of  a  bereaved  widow;  and  when 
Jesus  touched  the  bier,  and  said,  "Young  man, 


164  THE   LAST   ENEMY. 

arise!"  death  fled,  and  the  boy  sat  up,  and  "began 
to  speak!" 

And  when  the  last  trump  shall  sound,  and  the 
voice  of  the  archangel  shall  be  heard,  and  a  mighty 
shout  from  heaven,  the  dead,  small  and  great,  shall 
rise.  Heaven's  gates  will  open  for  the  righteous; 
hell's  gates  will  open  for  the  wicked.  Then  death 
and  hell  will  be  cast  into  the  "  lake  that  burns  with 
fire  and  brimstone"  forever! 


THE  REV.  S.  A.  STEEL, 

Of  tlie  Korth  Mississippi  Conference. 


X. 

THE  SPREAD  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

BY  THE  REV.  S.  A.  STEEL, 

North  Mississippi  Conference. 

"And  Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them,  saying,  All  power 
is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye,  therefore, 
and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world.  Amen."  Matt,  xxviii.  18,  19,  20. 

THE  gospel  is  for  everybody,  and  it  must  go  every- 
where. This  was  its  scope  when  Jesus  gave  the 
great  commission  to  the  disciples,  and  this  is  its 
scope  now.  It  proclaimed  then,  and  it  proclaims 
to-day,  that  the  world  is  the  field  of  its  intended 
expansion,  and  the  fealty  of  universal  man  its  due. 
Unlimited  enlargement  is  a  necessity  of  its  nature, 
and  the  miracle  of  its  progress  the  sublimest  evi- 
dence of  its  truth.  God  has  no  favorites. 

The  main  point  in  the  text  is  the  missionary  ob- 
ligation which  it  imposes  on  the  Church.  There  are 
other  and  important  elements  in  its  exegesis,  but 
this  is  the  central  thought  that  lies  at  its  very  heart. 
The  imperfect  apprehension  of  these  words  is  the 
chief  obstacle  to  the  religious  development  of  man- 
kind. Whenever  they  press  upon  the  conscience 
of  the  Church,  the  advance  of  the  gospel  is  rap- 

(165) 


166  THE    SPREAD   OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

id  and  glorious.  Their  spirit  is  like  fire  in  the 
bones. 

The  text,  therefore,  contains  the  indestructible 
germ  of  human  progress.  The  moral  antecedents 
of  the  world's  advancement  lie  in  the  crystal  depths 
of  this  passage.  The  present  activity  of  the  globe 
has  sprung  from  Christianity,  has  a  deep  and  essen- 
tial connection  with  the  gospel,  and  is  a  predicted 
result  of  the  plans  and  policy  of  Providence  in  re- 
lation to  mankind.  As  long  as  that  text  lives  on 
the  page  of  inspiration  there  will  be  a  stir  on  this 
planet,  and  hope  for  our  race. 

There  is  a  wideness  in  the  idea  of  the  text  that 
befits  the  mind  of  God.  It  is  forever  conclusive  as 
against  every  form  of  moral  apathy,  religious  nar- 
rowness, and  spiritual  repose.  It  creates  an  obliga- 
tion that  would  stand  firmer  than  adamant  against 
universal  unbelief,  and  imposes  a  duty  as  lasting  as 
time  itself.  The  whole  thought,  purpose,  plan,  pol- 
icy, and  reason,  of  the  missionary  work  of  the 
Church  originate  here.  Every  aspect  of  the  gos- 
pel, every  subsequent  utterance  of  its  history,  every 
development  of  its  truth  in  the  personal  conscious- 
ness of  the  believer,  but  emphasizes  this  orig- 
inal disclosure  of  the  aim  of  the  Christian  religion. 
The  missionary  obligation  could  have  no  higher 
source. 

The  text  gives  ns  this  proposition:  It  is  the  su- 
preme duty  of  the  Church  to  send  the  qospel  to  all  na- 
tions. We  shall  try  to  prove  it.  We  shall  analyze 
this  duty  into  its  original  elements,  and  endeavor  to 
show  why  it  is  supreme.  It  hns  a  broad  base  lying 


THE   SPREAD   OF   THE    GOSPEL.  167 

deep  in  the  region  of  eternal  truth,  but  it  has  too 
often  been  hidden  from  view  by  an  undue  regard 
for  the  superficial  and  incidental  reasons  of  this 
work.  At  best,  these  possess  only  a  temporary  and 
fluctuating  value,  and  we  prefer  to  clear  our  way 
through  them  to  the  great  scriptural  truths  and 
facts  of  Christian  consciousness  that  lie  below  them, 
and  from  whose  conclusions  there  can  be  no  rational 
dissent.  We  want  a  foundation  of  rock. 

I.  This  duty  originates  in  the  fact  that  all  the  world 
needs  the  gospel. 

There  is  a  universal  capacity  for  religion  in  our 
race.  Human  nature  is  a  unit,  and  however  modi- 
fied by  external  conditions,  retains  its  fundamental 
attributes.  N"o  divergence  from  the  original  stock 
can  extinguish  the  elementary  instincts  of  its  being. 
The  moral  feeling  is  constitutional  in  man,  and  a 
moral  belief,  with  its  superior  motivities,  is  its  nec- 
essary correlate.  The  moment  thought  unfolds  in 
consciousness,  the  essential  instinct  of  religion 
emerges  into  light  as  a  coefficient  element  of  hu- 
man nature;  and  it  grows  deeper  and  stronger,  as 
reason  develops,  until  it  asserts  supreme  lordship 
over  his  being,  and  demands  that  every  thing  be 
sacrificed  to  satisfy  it.  No  part  of  our  race  has 
been  found  incapable  of  mental  and  moral  eleva- 
tion. Even  the  lowest  types  of  savages  have  been 
lifted  up,  and  civilized,  and  redeemed.  This  fact 
conditions  a  universal  faith,  justifies  the  world-em- 
bracing scope  of  the  gospel,  and  furnishes  valid 
proof  of  the  divinity  of  a  system  that,  getting  back 
of  the  multifold  manifestations  of  humanity,  plants 


168  THE   SPREAD    OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

itself  on  the  primal  instincts  of  our  nature  as  the 
indestructible  base  of  its  operations. 

Left  to  themselves,  mankind  have  always  striven 
to  rise  out  of  this  darkness.  The  spontaneous  im- 
pulse of  moral  feeling  has  originated  schemes  of 
relief.  The  grandest  efforts  of  the  human  intellect 
have  been  exerted  at  this  point,  in  vain  attempt  to 
pacify  the  eternal  anxieties  of  conscience,  and  fill 
the  vast  aching  void  of  immortal  aspirations.  We 
can  trace  the  struggle  of  moral  thought  and  feeling, 
floundering  slowly  upward  and  onward  from  the 
base  forms  of  nature-worship  to  the  divinest  con- 
cepts of  philosophical  imagination,  in  mighty  but 
abortive  efforts  to  find  out  God.  Men  have  found 
the  highest  summits  of  their  speculations  sheeted 
in  pitiless  snows,  and  have  sunk  down  in  voiceless 
despair  on  the  glacial  wastes  of  error.  Paganism 
is  the  product  of  their  discoveries.  It  is  utterly  in- 
adequate to  the  moral  necessities  of  mankind;  yet  it 
to-day  holds  under  its  blighting  curse  the  largest 
portion  of  our  race,  and  the  fairest  regions  of  our 
earth.  By  every  rational  test,  the  independent  re- 
ligious movements  are  stupendous  failures;  but  they 
show  the  depth  of  the  moral  consciousness  of  man- 
kind, and  are  a  tremendous  argument  for  the  spread 
of  the  only  true  religion. 

The  depravity  of  the  race  is  universal.  All  na- 
tions are  debauched  in  crime.  The  ravages  of  sin 
are  coextensive  with  the  residence  of  man.  The 
doom  of  death  hangs  like  a  pall  upon  our  planet. 
The  gospel  is  the  only  remedy  for  sin — the  cross  of 
Jesus  the  only  hope  of  our  race.  It  exhibits  a  per- 


THE   SPREAD   OP   THE   GOSPEL.  169 

feet  correlation  with  the  demands  of  our  universal 
nature,  offers  adequate,  ample,  and  available,  relief 
for  every  human  woe,  and  furnishes  the  only  con- 
ception of  destiny  compatible  with  the  dignity  of 
our  being,  and  commensurate  with  the  range  of  our 
desires.  The  loftiest  thought  of  man  has  never  got 
above  it,  or  beyond  it.  Wherever  it  goes,  prostrate 
humanity  rises  from  its  degradation,  and  begins  its 
appropriate  activity.  Nations  without  the  gospel 
have  been  stagnant  from  an  immemorial  period; 
nations  with  the  gospel  have  always  been  restless, 
aggressive,  powerful,  borne  onward  along  the  path 
of  progress  by  an  internal  force  which  they  could 
not  resist;  and  they  are  so  just  in  proportion  as  the 
gospel  gets  hold  of  them,  and  puts  its  almighty  en- 
ergy into  them.  It  not  only  accelerates  human 
progress,  but  imparts  dignity  and  distinction  to  all 
its  achievements.  Civilization  is  a  product  of  its 
power,  and  is  coterminous  with  its  expansion.  It 
is  universally  and  gloriously  adapted  to  the  eleva- 
tion of  our  race.  Repose  is  guilt  in  the  presence 
of  the  awful  distress  of  the  world.  The  displeasure 
of  righteous  Heaven  must  be  upon  us  if  we  rest  on 
our  oars  and  see  unmoved  the  wreck  of  our  race, 
while  louder  than  the  thunders  of  the  storm  the 
vast,  deep  cry  for  help  is  rolling  up  from  millions 
going  down  to  death. 

II.  This  duty  originates  in  the  fact  that  the  gospel 
is  designed  for  all  the  world. 

Inspiration  is  burdened  with  the  evidence  of  its 
universal  scope.  Prophecy  everywhere,  and  in  the 
clearest  voice,  foretold  its  illimitable  range.  Its 


170  THE   SPREAD    OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

earliest  utterances  declared  that  all  nations  should 
be  blessed  in  faithful  Abraham,  and  its  latest  pro- 
claimed that  whosoever  will  may  come.  The  hea- 
then were  to  be  given  to  Christ  for  an  inheritance, 
and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a  posses- 
sion. He  was  to  be  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  and  the 
salvation  of  God  to  all  the  ends  of  the  earth.  All  peo- 
ple, nations,  and  languages,  were  to  serve  him.  By 
the  grace  of  God  he  tasted  death  for  every  man.  He 
gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all.  He  is  the  Lamb  of 
God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  He  is 
the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  not  for  ours  only, 
but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  He  com- 
mands the  gospel  to  be  carried  to  all  nations.  John 
saw  the  symbol  of  the  Christian  ministry  in  the 
Apocalyptic  angel,  flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven, 
having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  to  every 
nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  that 
dwell  on  the  earth. 

Such  is  God's  purpose  in  the  gospel.  It  knows 
no  limits  but  the  boundaries  of  the  globe.  Shall 
we  nullify  the  fundamental  aim  of  its  revelation? 
Shall  we  content  ourselves  with  a  selfish  monopoly 
of  its  blessings,  or  imagine  we  are  the  pets  of  the 
Almighty  because  we  have  it?  Shall  we  fold  our 
arms  in  guilty  indifference  to  its  spread,  and  para- 
lyze its  progress  by  withholding  our  aid,  when  the 
whole  world  is  dying  for  it,  and  it  proclaims  by 
every  oracle  that  it  is  designed  for  the  whole  world, 
and  is  the  gift  of  God  to  all  our  race?  Can  we  love 
Jesus  and  do  it? 

This  aim   of  universal  dominion   is  peculiar  to 


THE   SPREAD   OF   THE    GOSPEL.  171 

Christianity.  It  lifts  it  immeasurably  above  its 
rivals,  attests  its  divinity,  and  guarantees  its  final 
triumph.  It  assumed  at  the  first,  and  maintains 
from  age  to  age,  the  position  of  an  exclusive  re- 
ligion, itself  essentialfy  right,  and  all  others  neces- 
sarily wrong,  and  its  destiny  absolute  and  universal 
supremacy.  It  refuses  to  coalesce  with  other  sys- 
tems. It  rejects  every  offered  compromise,  and 
scorns  all  proposals  of  armistice.  It  came  to  ex- 
terminate all  other  forms  of  moral  belief,  and  moves 
steadily  onward  to  realize  its  aim,  guided  by  the 
wisdom,  and  sustained  by  the  power,  of  God.  It 
overthrew  the  paganism  of  Europe,  and  destroyed 
that  of  America,  and  is  invading  Africa  and  Asia, 
intent  on  its  primal  aim.  It  is  the  only  religion 
that  has  followers  in  every  land.  It  has  enrolled 
representatives  of  every  nation  under  its  banner. 
Its  camp-fires  illuminate  every  region,  glitter  on 
the  far-off  isles  that  gem  the  ocean,  flame  like  a  zone 
of  living  splendors  along  the  vast  realm  of  China, 
and  flash  high  "up  the  stainless  ramps  of  huge 
Himalaya's  wall."  It  is  organized,  active,  aggres- 
sive, triumphant  from  west  to  east,  through  all  the 
latitudes  of  the  habitable  earth,  illustrating  its  eter- 
nal energy  in  ever-enlarging  efforts  for  the  recovery 
of  man.  The  artificial  distinctions  of  mankind  dis- 
appear in  the  light  of  its  impartial  love,  for  it  came 
to  make  the  blessings  of  redemption  flow  far  as  the 
curse  is  found. 

This  design  is  deep,  permanent,  fundamental, 
lying  at  the  very  base  of  the  whole  economy  of 
mofcil  purpose  and  endeavor.  It  is  organic  in  the 


172  THE   SPREAD   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

very  nature  of  Christianity.  The  missionary  obli- 
gation therefore  springs  from  an  internal  necessity 
of  the  system,  is  grounded  in  the  first  principles  of 
religion,  is  inexorable  as  a  moral  law,  and  is  of  uni- 
versal and  perpetual  force.  Therefore  we  cannot 
be  truly  loyal  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  sublime  and  all-embracing  purpose  of  his 
mission.  If  we  feel  no  concern  for  the  heathen,  and 
take  no  interest  in  the  wider  and  larger  range  of 
religious  effort,  it  is  the  sign  of  a  disastrous  defect 
in  our  piety,  and  a  melancholy  weakness  in  our 
faith.  Selfishness  -is  sin. 

III.  This  duty  originates  in  the  express  command  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

"  Jesus  came,  and  spake  unto  them,  saying,  All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go 
ye,  therefore,  make  Christians  of  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  ob- 
serve all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you; 
and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world."  The  whole  genius  of  the  new  dispen- 
sation flashed  forth  in  that  word,  Go  !  No  mightier 
word  ever  fell  upon  the  ear  of  the  world.  Its  vibra- 
tions have  shaken  the  kingdoms  of  the  globe,  and 
still  agitate  the  ages.  The  force  of  an  omnipotent 
imperative  is  in  it.  It  contains  the  embryonic  pos- 
sibilities of  a  world's  progress.  It  is  not  a  sugges- 
tion; it  is  not  advisory  ;  it  is  not  instructive;  it  is 
not  a  permission;  it  is  not  a  commission  only;  but 
it  is  a  mandate  full  and  deep  as  the  authority  of 
God.  «• 


THE    SPREAD    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  173 

This  lofty  commandment  was  given  to  the  disci- 
ples at  the  special  meeting  on  the  mountain  in  Gal- 
ilee. It  was  the  most  august  conference  ever  held. 
Jesus  Christ  himself  presided,  and  settled  for  all 
ages  to  come  the  functions  of  the  ministry,  and  the 
policy  of  the  Church,  and  gave  the  plenary  com- 
mission to  subdue  the  world.  Amid  the  solemn 
hush  of  that  assembly  we  hear  nothing  of  the  pri- 
macy of  Peter,  of  apostolic  succession,  of  pontifical 
vicarship,  of  priests,  sacraments,  or  ritual.  The 
thought  of  the  Church  was  focalized  upon  one  tre- 
mendous idea,  which  not  only  lay  back  of  all  organ- 
ization, and  beneath  all  outward  effort,  but  Avas 
thenceforward  to  absorb  into  itself  the  resources  of 
the  world,  and  direct  the  progress  of  the  race.  In 
one  word  Jesus  gave  the  philosophy  of  the  Chris- 
tian system,  and  unveiled  the  rationale  of  the  new 
and  wondrous  manifestation  of  Providence.  The 
grand  basal  principle  of  Church-order,  the  puissant 
norm  of  the  whole  economy  of  Christianity,  is  the 
everlasting  itinerancy  of  the  gospel.  "All  nations" 
was  the  wide  range  of  the  holy  evangel,  and  the 
primal  appointment  secured  the  perpetual  mobility 
of  the  ministry  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  apostles  did  not  then  understand  it.  It  was 
a  revelation  which  anticipated  the  profoundest  de- 
velopments of  their  faith  and  the  grandest  reaches 
of  their  experience.  This  sudden  burst  of  the  illim- 
itable magnificence  of  the  gospel  purpose  and  pros- 
pects blinded  and  bewildered  them.  But  the  bap- 
tismal fire  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost swept  them  into  deep  and  blessed  sympathy 


174  THE    SPREAD   OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

with  the  immense  conception,  and  they  gradually 
rose  to  the  unequaled  height  of  its  apprehension, 
and  one  after  another  sped  away  on  glorious  errand 
to  tell  the  joyful  uewo. 

But  we  understand  it;  and  we  cannot  escape  the 
inflexible  obligation  of  a  positive  commandment, 
emanating  immediately  from  the  Source  of  all  au- 
thority and  power,  and  emphasized  by  the  excep- 
tional circumstances  of  its  delivery.  We  have  no 
discretion  in  the  matter.  A  divine  compulsion  is 
upon  us.  The  inexorable  condition  of  our  exist- 
ence enforces  the  missionary  attitude  and  effort. 
Coming  over  all  the  mountains,  sweeping  upon  ev- 
ery wind,  crossing  all  the  seas  and  lands,  and  break- 
ing from  the  bending  heavens,  like  the  thunders  of 
Divinity,  we  hear  the  sovereign  mandate,  Go!  The 
primal  obligation  has  not  been  lowered,  or  the  pri- 
mal command  revoked.  The  boundless  scope  of 
redeeming  love  has  not  been  restricted,  or  the  an- 
cient counsels  of  Almighty  Goodness  canceled,  or 
the  glorious  word  of  the  Lord  bound.  That  word 
is  as  fresh  to-day  as  when  it  leaped  from  the  lips  of 
Jesus  on  the  Galilean  mount.  It  is  as  strong,  as 
glorious,  as  grand,  as  when  the  waiting  disciples,  in 
obedience  to  its  divine  behest,  seized  the  banner  of 
the  cross,  starred  with  the  splendors  of  everlasting 
light,  and  startled  the  nations  with  their  grand  ad- 
vance. We  need  no  other  argument  for  missions. 
It  is  injustice  to  truth  to  put  the  claims  of  this  cause 
upon  any  lower  ground.  It  is  fixed  upon  us  by  the 
fiat  of  Jehovah.  We  plant  our  cause  right  here, 
and  defy  all  controversy  to  lower  its  claim,  or  escape 


THE   SPREAD   OF   THE    GOSPEL.  175 

the  duty  it  imposes  without  guilt.  Long  as  the 
curse  endures,  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  must 
send  the  gospel  to  all  lands. 

IV.  This  duty  is  still  more  dearly  defined  and  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  the  Church  has  always  rec- 
ognized it  as  supreme. 

The  outward  organization  of  the  Church  has 
always  conformed  to  this  inner  idea  of  expansion, 
and  its  history  has  been  that  of  steady  progress — it 
sweeps  a  wider  circle  in  every  age.  The  providen- 
tial arrangements  for  its  spread  were  few  and  sim- 
ple, but  adequate  and  effectual.  An  itinerant  myi- 
istry  was  the  central  idea  of  Jesus  in  forming  this 
Church.  The  apostles  became  active  and  invincible 
emissaries  of  the  cross,  who  bore  the  gospel  into 
every  accessible  region  of  the  earth.  Paul,  the 
grandest  of  the  band,  was  specially  set  over  the 
foreign  work.  The  wider  policy  of  religious  ef- 
fort, the  larger  outreachings  of  gospel  progress,  re- 
quired the  ripest  intellect  and  greatest  heart  of  the 
Church.  God  put  the  best  man  the  Church  had  in 
charge  of  the  foreign  field.  He  sent  the  most  elo- 
quent preacher  off  as  a  missionary.  He  took  him 
away  from  a  large  city-station,  broke  up  his  settled 
pastorate  at  Antioch,  and  hurried  him  to  the  front 
to  lead  the  van  of  the  infant  Church  right  into  the 
heart  of  heathendom.  Some  of  our  modern  object- 
ors to  missions  would  have  thought  that  a  great 
waste  of  talent.  Paul,  the  man  of  massive  brain, 
of  deep  and  swift  insight  into  truth,  of  high  and 
liberal  culture,  of  polished  manners  and  fiery  elo- 
quence, of  catholic  sympathies  and  safe  judgment, 


176         TUE  SPREAD  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

could  have  been  useful  in  any  place.  Wherever  he 
might  have  been  sent,  he  would  have  shaken  the 
very  foundations  of  paganism.  But  men  exist  for 
the  work,  not  the  work  for  men,  and  God's  plan  is 
to  send  men  where  they  are  needed  most;  so  he  or- 
dered Paul  "  far  hence."  That  shows  us  God's  esti- 
mate of  the  foreign  missionary  work.  Is  it  yours, 
my  brother?  If  not,  who  is  right? 

Ever  since  then  the  spirituality  of  the  Church  and 
its  zeal  for  missions  have  coincided.  Left  to  its  nat- 
ural tendency,  Christianity  always  sweeps  straight 
in£o  this*  great  channel,  and  flows  onward  with 
widening  volume  and  increasing  might.  It  has  often 
been  arrested,  and  its  energies  diverted  to  other 
ends,  but  with  the  revival  of  primal  simplicity  there 
reappears  the  indestructible  purpose  of  expansion. 
The  nearer  the  Church  draws  to  its  center  of  light 
and  life  in  Jesus,  the  profounder  becomes  the  con- 
viction, and  more  imperative  the  impulse,  to  send 
the  gospel  to  every  creature.  At  the  feet  of  Jesus 
we  are  melted  into  love  for  all  mankind.  The 
moral  antecedents  of  missionary  zeal  are  among  the 
deepest  forces  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

In  the  light  of  such  facts  and  principles,  what 
becomes  of  the  objection  to  missions  on  the  ground 
that  we  have  enough  to  do  at  home?  Bid  the  apos- 
tles hold  such  an  opinion,  or  pursue  such  a  policy? 
Can  the  objection  be  reconciled  with  the  Master's 
words,  or  the  deep  and  divine  purpose  of  the  gos- 
pel? We  cannot  forget  that  our  remote  ancestors 
were  pagans;  that  they  were  civilized  by  foreign 
missions;  that  our  civilization  has  flowed  down 


THE    SPREAD    OF   THE    GOSPEL.  177 

from  this  source.  Shall  we  receive  the  boon  of  life, 
and  then  not  only  refuse  to  convey  it  to  others,  but 
denounce  the  very  policy  by  which  it  came  to  us  as 
a  mistake?  The  objection  is  unworthy  of  a  rational 
mind,  and  betrays  a  dense  ignorance  of  the  gospel. 
Let  it  be  at  once  and  forever  hushed  among  the 
people  of  God,  and  a  generous  emulation  mark  our 
efforts  to  extend  the  Saviour's  reign  throughout  the 
world. 

Y.  This  obligation  is  heightened  by  the  unparalleled 
opportunity  offered  by  the  existing  state  of  the  world  for 
the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

This  opportunity  is  seen  in  the  political  changes 
which  have  opened  all  nations  to  its  entrance. 
Christianity  has  won  the  freedom  of  the  world.  It 
has  access  to  all  lands.  There  is  no  legal  proscrip- 
tion against  it  anywhere,  except  where  Rome  holds 
sway.  The  fires  of  persecution  are  dying  out,  ex- 
tinguished by  the  growing  spirit  of  liberty  and  sense 
.of  human  rights.  The  blood  of  the  martyr,  it  may 
be,  is  yet  needed  to  plant  the  Church  in  some  places; 
but  the  public  sentiment  of  Christendom  resents  re- 
ligious intolerance  as  an  outrage  upon  her  character 
and  a  violation  of  her  rights. 

This  opportunity  is  seen  in  the  improved  facilities 
of  travel  which  have  made  all  lands  easy  of  access. 
The  most  distant  regions  have  been  brought  near 
together.  Steam-ships  and  railroads  have  narrowed 
oceans  and  continents,  and  bade  the  poles  clasp  hands 
in  brotherly  embrace.  The  electric  telegraph  anni- 
hilates time  and  space,  and  binds  the  ends  of  the 
earth  in  fellowship.  Paul  had  more  trouble  getting 
8* 


178  THE    SPREAD    OF    THE   GOSPEL. 

from  Jerusalem  to  Rome  than  Bishop  Marvin  had 
to  circumnavigate  the  globe.  Missionaries  come 
and  go  between  the  remotest  fields  with  ease  and 
safety,  and  with  trifling  cost.  The  effect  of  this 
commingling  of  mankind  is  clearly  visible  in  the 
production  of  a  higher  and  broader  type  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  disappearance  of  exclusiveness,  preju- 
dice, and  ignorance — all  of  which  eminently  favor 
the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

This  opportunity  is  seen  in  the  immense  advan- 
tages we  possess  for  reaching  the  people.  The  conditions 
of  missionary  labor  have  vastly  changed  within  the 
past  decade,  and  wonderfully  improved.  A  great 
deal  of  preparatory  work  has  been  done.  Gigantic 
clearings  have  been  made.  The  soil  has  been  bro- 
ken in  many  countries,  and  is  waiting  for  the  holy 
seed;  in  others  the  harvest  has  already  come,  and 
the  ripe  grain  waits  for  the  reaper's  blade.  The 
gospel  is  now  translated  into  the  principal  languages 
of  the  world;  has  taken  strong  root  in  many  heathen 
lands;  has  established  numerous  flourishing  centers 
of  expansion;  has  obtained  legal  protection,  enrolled 
converts,  erected  churches,  built  colleges,  organized 
conferences,  founded  hospitals,  and  published  news- 
papers, periodicals,  and  books.  In  most  heathen 
lands  the  whole  economy  of  effort  is  thoroughly 
organized,  and  in  active  and  successful  operation. 
We  have  not  so  much  to  send  a  forlorn  hope  to  lead 
the  charge,  as  to  support  the  column  already  far 
into  the  breach. 

This  opportunity  is  seen  in  the  spirit  of  the  age. 
Men  no  longer  ridicule  the  missionary.  He  is  the 


THE   SPREAD   OF   THE   GOSPEL.  179 

moral  representative  of  a  progress  that  is  widening 
every  realm  of  thought,  and  pushing  every  depart- 
ment of  human  activity  toward  the  boundaries  of 
the  world.  The  pulse  of  civilization  throbs  in  uni- 
son with  his  toil.  Wherever  he  goes,  Freedom's 
banner  mounts  the  breeze,  and  the  clarion  blast  of 
her  bugles  rallies  our  race  from  the  inertia  of  de- 
spair, to  lead  them  up  to  the  high  places  of  life  and 
the  wide  prospects  of  immortal  glory.  He  is  sus- 
tained by  the  new  and  nobler  feeling  of  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man,  which  is  ascending  to  control 
the  destiny  of  our  world.  Never  before  have  the 
prevailing  sentiments  of  mankind  been  so  in  accord 
with  this  work,  or  did  the  missionary  have  behind 
him  such  a  wealth  of  sympathy  and  prayer.  The 
vast,  deep  river  of  human  improvement  is  rolling  on 
in  grandeur,  and  its  course  is  bending  toward  the 
throne  of  God. 

This  opportunity  appears  in  the  great  resources  of 
the  Church.  1.  Resources  of  men  and  women. — Our 
ministry  is  full  of  strong  young  men  —  educated, 
gifted,  consecrated — who  are,  or  ought  to  be,  ready 
to  go  to  the  front,  and  toil  and  die  for  Jesus.  Chris- 
tian women  are  ready  to  go  to  the  rescue  of  perish- 
ing millions  in  the  land  of  darkness.  2.  Resources 
of  wealth. — Christianity  is  the  richest  religion  on 
the  planet.  Ours  are  the  gold,  and  silver,  and 
armies,  and  navies,  and  colleges,  of  the  world.  We 
have  all  the  materials  of  progress.  But  we  squander 
millions  in  luxury,  we  waste  millions  on  lust,  we 
hoard  up  millions  to  rust  and  rot  the  life  out  of 
society.  Every  dollar  belongs  to  God.  He  needs  it 


180  THE    SPREAD    OF    THE   GOSPEL. 

now.  It  ought  to  go  into  the  elevation  and  salva- 
tion of  our  race.  3.  Resources  of  faith. — The  Church 
believes  more  than  it  ever  did  in  this  work.  It 
makes  it  more  prominent,  urges  its  claims  more 
generally  and  earnestly,  and  is  more  liberal  to  it. 
It  has  a  deeper  trust  in  God,  a  nearer  view  of  the 
field,  a  more  vivid  and  convincing  knowledge  of 
its  necessities.  4.  Resources  of  hope. — There  is  not 
a  note  of  discouragement  from  any  quarter  of  the 
field.  Success  salutes  us  everywhere.  Here  and 
there  the  forces  appear  to  retreat,  but  it  is  only  a  local 
maneuver  to  secure  a  larger  advantage  and  a  quick- 
er victory.  Along  the  whole  line  the  ringing  com- 
mand, Forward!  breaks  above  the  clang  of  clashing 
steel  and  roaring  thunder  of  the  strife,  and  the 
tramp  of  the  conquering  legions  shakes  the  gates 
of  hell.  Tidings  from  the  front,  my  brother,  and 
everywhere  we  win  the  day! 

This  age  is  the  crisis  of  the  world.  The  gospel 
never  had  such  a  chance  as  now.  Every  circum- 
stance conspires  to  facilitate  its  progress  and  has- 
ten the  period  of  its  universal  sway.  God  speaks 
by  his  opportunities.  They  are  the  oracles  of  his 
providence.  He  prepared  the  world  to  receive  the 
gospel.  The  union  of  so  many  different  countries 
under  the  imperial  sway  of  Rome;  the  large  security 
of  law;  the  safe  and  rapid  means  of  transit;  the  cos- 
mopolitan activity  of  commerce;  the  general  hush 
of  the  world's  strife;  the  giving  way  of  the  older 
forms  of  thought,  and  the  deep  and  universal  desire 
for  higher  and  better  things,  and  the  vast  forward 
impulse  of  humanity — which  was  a  resultant  of  all 


THE   SPREAD   OF    THE   GOSPEL.  181 

these  moral  and  political  causes — all  this  was  in 
providential  coincidence  with  the  advent  of  the  Son 
of  God.  But  ours  is  a  yet  greater,  a  far  grander 
opportunity.  Every  thing  that  has  gone  before  has 
been  preliminary  to  the  universal  advance  we  are 
called  upon  now  to  make.  O  Church  of  the  living 
God!  throw  thyself  forward  upon  this  wide  and 
glorious  opportunity!  Go  up  and  possess  the  land 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  into  thy 
hand! 

VI.  Finally,  this  obligation  is  intensified  to  a  degree 
absolutely  painful  by  the  fact  that  we  are  responsible  for 
the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

Paul  says,  "How  shall  they  believe  in  him  of 
whom  they  have  not  heard?  and  how  shall  they  hear 
without  a  preacher?  and  how  shall  they  preach  ex- 
cept they  be  sent? "  The  gospel  will  go  only  where 
we  send  it.  There  is  no  other  agency  for  its  pro- 
mulgation. God  will  not  work  a  miracle  to  convey 
it  to  the  heathen.  He  has  done  every  thing  that 
infinite  goodness  ought  to  do.  He  has  redeemed  us 
by  his  own  precious  blood;  he  freely  gives  us  the 
offer  of  salvation ;  he  enables  us  to  send  it  to  others; 
he  opens  wide  the  opportunity;  he  commands  us  to 
speed  it  on  its  all-embracing  mission.  The  solemn 
responsibility  is  upon  us.  We  cannot  evade  it.  We 
are  utterly  without  excuse  for  failure  to  comply  with 
the  highest  injunction  of  our  risen  Saviour — the  last 
benevolent  appointment  of  his  love.  The  world 
ought  to  have  been  converted  long  before  now.  No 
decree  of  God  has  kept  it  back.  He  does  not  mock 
the  sorrows  of  a  world  by  blocking  the  way  of  its 


182  THE    SPREAD    OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

deliverance.  He  has  moved  the  heavens  to  save  us. 
Nothing  hinders  the  universal  spread  of  the  gospel 
now  but  the  unbelief  and  apathy  of  the  Church. 
God  is  ready;  China,  India,  Africa,  are  ready;  but 
we  are  not,  and  the  whole  work  halts,  and  the  prog- 
ress of  the  gospel  is  retarded,  and  millions  grope 
on  in  darkness,  and  sink  into  hell! 

My  brethren,  while  we  recline  in  our  soft  places, 
while  we  feast  on  the  gospel  in  our  cushioned  pews, 
while  the  sacramental  chalice  is  at  our  lips,  and, 
amid  the  altar's  holy  hush,  we  say,  "Our  Father, 
who  art  in  heaven,"  the  distant  wail  of  dying  mill- 
ions breaks  upon  our  ear.  A  lost  world's  appeal 
for  help  sweeps  up  over  the  roar  of  all  the  storms, 
and  rebukes  the  unchristlike  indifference  of  the 
Church.  It  is  no  fiction  of  thought.  It  is  not  a 
fancy  picture.  We  make  no  appeal  to  the  imagina- 
tion. We  state  sober  facts,  and  address  the  honest 
reason  of  every  professed  believer  in  Jesus  Christ. 
We  defy  the  world  to  show  why  we  are  not  guilty 
of  our  brother's  blood!  If  the  gospel  is  true,  if  our 
religion  is  not  a  solemn  sham,  if  life  itself  is  not  an 
illusion,  and  universal  depravity  a  conceit  of  the 
enthusiast,  then,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  in  earth 
and  heaven,  we  are  fearfully  recreant  to  our  trust, 
and  disloyal  to  our  Lord,  in  that  we  monopolize  the 
benefits  of  the  gospel,  and  will  not  give  it  to  all  the 
world! 

We  submit  our  argument.  We  are  willing  to 
abide  by  the  verdict  of  the  intelligent  conscience. 
The  whole  world  needs  the  gospel;  the  gospel  is 
designed  for  the  whole  world;  Jesus  Christ  com- 


THE    SPREAD   OF    THE    GOSPEL.  183 

mands  us  to  send  it  to  the  whole  world.  The 
Church  has  always  regarded  this  as  her  chief  work; 
she  never  had  such  a  chance  as  now;  on  every  prin- 
ciple of  equity  she  is  responsible  for  the  result; 
therefore  it  is  the  supreme  duty  of  the  Church  to  send 
the  gospel  to  all  nations. 

If,  then,  this  is  our  duty,  let  us  faithfully  discharge 
it.  We  may  not  be  able  to  do  much,  but  we  can  do 
something,  and  God  will  recognize  and  hallow  all 
we  do.  By  earnest  faith,  by  joyous  hope,  by  fervent 
zeal,  by  the  power  of  Christian  sympathy,  by  the 
offering  of  our  wealth  and  the  riches  of  liberality 
abounding  out  of  our  deep  poverty,  by  the  benison 
of  self-sacrifice,  and  the  benevolence  of  the  Christly 
spirit,  let  us  have  a  part  in  the  uplifting  of  our 
race. 

There  is  no  prospect  like  that  of  a  world  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus.  Everywhere  the  scene  of  moral  reno- 
vation unrolls  upon  our  vision,  and  the  watchers  her- 
-ald  the  approaching  dawn  from  all  the  towers  of  the 
field.  Nearer  and  yet  nearer  sweeps  the  glorious 
victory  of  the  Son  of  God,  when  every  knee  shall 
bow,  and  every  tongue  shall  confess  his  everlasting 
name.  Lo, 

'Tis  coming  up  the  steep  of  time, 

And  this  old  world  is  growing  brighter; 
We  may  not  see  it  dawn  sublime, 

Yet  high  hopes  make  the  heart  throb  lighter. 
We  may  be  sleeping  in  the  ground 

When  it  awakes  the  people's  wonder; 
But  we  have  felt  it  gathering  round, 

And  heard  its  voice  of  living  thunder. 
Christ's  reign — ah,  yes,  'tis  coming! 


184  THE    SPREAD   OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

Ay,  it  must  come!  The  tyrant's  throne 

Is  crumbling,  with  men's  hot  tears  rusted; 
The  sword,  the  great  have  leaned  upon, 

Is  cankered,  with  men's  heart-blood  crusted. 
Room!  for  the  men  of  love  make  way! 

Ye  selfish  great  ones,  pause  no  longer ; 
Ye  cannot  stay  the  opening  day — 

The  world  rolls  on,  the  light  grows  stronger- 
The  Master's  advent 's  coming ! 


XI. 

THE  HINDERANCES  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

BY  THE  REV.  A.  W.  MANGUM,  D.D., 

North  Carolina  Conference. 

"But  suffer  all  things,  lest  we  should  hinder  the  gospel  of 
Christ."     1  Cor.  ix.  12. 

IN  this  language  St.  Paul  presents  an  example  of 
self-denial  worthy  of  universal  admiration.  While 
vindicating  his  rights  as  an  apostle,  he  farther 
teaches  that  such  was  his  devotion  that  he  willingly 
yielded  his  own  just  claims  to  earthly  reward  for  his 
labor,  and  unmurmuringly  suffered  all  things,  lest 
he  should  hinder  the  gospel  of  Christ.  But  in  this 
he  was  simply  consistent.  He  was  a  member  and 
-minister  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  the  one  di- 
vinely-appointed work  of  that  Church  is  to  evan- 
gelize the  world.  The  principle  involved  in  his 
example  commends  itself  to  our  most  careful  con- 
sideration. The  duties  and  privileges  of  the  gospel 
of  Christ  have  been  transmitted  to  us.  The  work 
of  evangelization,  so  nobly  begun,  so  heroically 
prosecuted,  now  rests  upon  those  that  constitute  the 
Church  of  to-day.  After  all  that  has  been  done  in 
the  long  centuries,  a  great  part  of  the  human  race 
are  still  without  the  word  of  God,  or  the  institutions 
of  Christianity,  while  vast  numbers  in  this  and  other 

(185) 


186  THE    HINDERAJfCES   OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

Christian  lands  are  wandering  in  the  ways  of  sin, 
and  dying  in  the  horrible  gloom  of  rayless  unbelief. 
The  Church,  in  its  various  divisions,  though  still 
making  high  professions,  and  still  presenting  an 
imposing  array,  is  sadly  unsatisfactory  in  moral  in- 
fluence, and  alarmingly  slow  in  conquest.  With 
more  educated  mind  gathered  around  the  cross  than 
in  any  preceding  age,  with  unprecedented  auxilia- 
ries in  the  printing-press,  in  the  means  of  rapid  in- 
tercourse, and  in  the  wide-spread  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge, there  is  ominous  necessity  for  fierce  struggles 
on  the  part  of  Christianity,  that  it  may  maintain  its 
ground,  and  win  even  slight  and  occasional  advan- 
tages over  the  opposing  world.  The  love  of  many 
of  the  professed  followers  of  Christ  is  cold,  the  faith 
of  many  is  weak,  the  fears  of  many  are  tormenting, 
the  conduct  of  many  is  wicked.  No  wonder  that 
the  language  of  the  enemies  of  the  gospel  becomes 
bold  and  threatening.  True,  the  Church  continues 
to  grow,  but,  alas,  how  slowly  !  Surely  it  is  incum- 
bent upon  those  that  sincerely  believe  and  teach  the 
gospel  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  the  causes  of  this  sad 
truth. 

I.  What  are  the  hinderances  of  the  gospel  in  our  day? 

It  is  not  within  the  compass  of  the  text,  and  it  is 
not  necessary,  to  consider  at  length  the  palpable 
and  acknowledged  opposition  of  the  ungodly  world. 
Sin  is  older  than  the  Church,  was  the  occasion  of 
the  whole  economy  of  redemption,  but  cannot  be 
at  once  removed  by  the  will  and  effort  of  the  serv- 
ants of  God.  In  all  our  calculations  respecting 
Christian  progress  we  must  incorporate  as  a  factor 


THE    HINDERANCE*   OF    THE    GOSPEL.  187 

the  truth  that  sinners  are  free  agents,  and  that  if 
they  will  not  yield  they  cannot  be  saved.  It  is 
enough  for  us  to  know  that  we  have  the  perfected 
plan  of  salvation — the  power  that  can  and  will  over- 
come the  world.  We  are  chiefly  concerned  in  the 
hinderances  for  which  the  Church  is  primarily  re- 
sponsible. What  are  they? 

1.  Formality — having  the  form,  without  the  power,  of 
godliness.  This  evil  appears  most  flagrant  in  the  ex- 
travagant ritualism  that  is  so  great  a  reproach  and 
curse  to  some  other  divisions  of  the  Church.  It  is 
the  miserable  delusion  from  which  earnest  souls 
escaped  before  Methodism  could  be  founded,  and  it 
has  never  been  able  successfully  to  tempt  us  to  re- 
turn to  its  baleful  influence.  With  us  the  danger 
lies  rather  in  too  complacent  trust  in  those  forms  of 
worship  that  are  in  themselves  proper,  commenda- 
ble, and  even  indispensable.  Many,  while  criticis- 
ing and  pitying  the  ritualist,  vainly  linger  in  those 
mere  ceremonials,  through  which  they  ought  in  con- 
sistency to  pass,  until  they  apprehend  the  glowing 
spiritual  realities  that  constitute  the  only  genuine 
object.  There  is  too  much  dependence  on  nominal 
membership  and  the  mechanical,  or  conventional, 
observance  of  the  externals  of  piety.  The  public 
worship  is  well  attended,  the  demeanor  in  the 
church  is  unexceptionable,  the  words  of  moving 
hymns  are  sung,  some  reverent  posture  in  prayer  is 
observed,  respectful  attention  to  lessons  and  sermon 
is  seemingly  paid,  the  contributions  to  the  holy 
cause  may  be  promptly  offered,  and  the  ministers, 
institutions,  and  doctrines,  of  the  Church  are  es- 


188       THE  HINDERANCES  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

teemed  and  defended,  but,  alas!  how  faint  the  signs 
of  spiritual  life!  how  slight  the  appearances  of  hun- 
gering and  thirsting  for  the  things  of  God  !  how 
rare  the  actions  that  tell  of  a  holy  love  for  the 
brethren!  how  feeble  the  efforts  to  sustain  the 
tempted,  reclaim  the  backslidden,  and  bring  sinners 
to  Christ!  Think  of  the  waste  of  precious  means 
and  talents  in  the  worship  of  a  single  congregation 
that  seeks  no  fervor,  shows  no  inner  life,  and  makes 
no  direct  assaults  on  Satan!  The  assumed  conflict 
between  such  a  Church  and  the  powers  of  darkness 
does  not  rise  to  the  dignity  of  a  mock-battle.  It  is 
the  orderly  dress-parade  amid  flying  shot  and  shell, 
while  duty  shouts  for  the  spirit  and  struggle  of  the 
field.  It  soon  becomes  but  the  brandishing  by  de- 
luded prisoners  of  beautiful  but  worthless  weapons 
in  the  walls  of  what  they  deem  their  camp,  but  of 
what  is  their  prison,  lorded  by  their  wily  and  tri- 
umphant foe.  What  rational  hope  can  there  be  for 
victory? 

2.  Sectarianism.  True  loyalty  to  one's  denomina- 
tion is  highly  praiseworthy.  No  one  can  voluntari- 
ly become  and  continue  a  member  of  any  organiza- 
tion and  knowingly  neglect  the  obligations  assumed 
without  downright  inconsistency.  This  is  preemi- 
nently true  of  the  Christian  and  his  Church.  But 
there  is  a  tendency  to  pay  excessive  regard  to  what 
may  be  relatively  called  the  non-essentials  in  the 
denominational  economy.  The  prosperity  of  the 
individual  Church  often  appears  as  the  supreme 
object.  There  is  not  sufficient  care  to  make  the 
denominational  interest  contribute  directly  to  the 


THE   HINDER ANCES   OF   THE   GOSPEL.  189 

achievement  of  the  one  ultimate  purpose  of  the  di- 
vine religion.  He  is  not  a  true  friend  to  his  own 
Church  who  does  not  desire  and  strive  above  all 
else  to  secure  the  salvation  of  souls.  Whatever  his 
profession  or  belief,  he  is  an  actual  foe  to  the  cause 
he  nominally  espouses.  Too  much  sectarian  feel- 
ing invariably  implies  too  little  love  for  the  real 
kingdom  of  Christ.  Are  there  not  those  who  are 
more  jealous  of  the  success  of  other  Churches  than 
of  the  dread  conquest  of  souls  by  Satan?  Have  we 
not  reason  to  fear  that  there  is  a  kind  of  sectarian- 
ism that  is  less  disturbed  by  the  prevalence  of  spir- 
itual declension  and  death  than  by  the  knowledge 
that  showers  of  revival  grace  are  descending  upon 
other  divisions  of  Zion  ?  By  such  the  peculiar  rit- 
ual and  creed  are  recklessly  magnified  and  exalted 
above  the  true,  essential  spirit  and  aims  of  Chris- 
tianity itself.  They  love  their  individual  Church 
more  than  souls,  more  than  the  gospel,  more  than 
Christ.  Surely  this  is  the  deadly  ichor  of  ungodly 
^selfishness,  a  daring  violation  of  the  supreme  duties 
of  the  child  of  God,  a  direct  and  shocking  contra- 
diction of  all  the  impulses  of  an  enlightened  con- 
science. It  involves  a  deplorable  misapprehension 
of  the  character  and  design  of  evangelical  agencies. 
Mere  instruments  are  prized  and  honored,  while 
the  author  and  wielder  of  the  instruments  is  disre- 
garded or  forgotten.  The  melting  hymn  and  fer- 
vent prayer  win  ready  compliments  to  the  sweet 
singer  and  eloquent  suppliant.  There  is  eager  de- 
mand for  fine  sermons,  and  the  "worth 'of  ministers 
is  measured  solely  by  the  degree  of  their  reputed 


190  THE    HINDERANCES   OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

eloquence.  When  elegant  periods,  beautiful  im- 
agery, and  fascinating  originality,  have  wooed  and 
won  the  fanciful  admiration  of  those  who  have 
"  itching  ears,"  every  tongue  praises  the  excellent 
preacher  as  a  model,  eulogizes  his  lofty  discourses, 
and  by  every  available  art  fosters  in  him  the  dan- 
gerous ambition  to  be  noted  and  lauded  for  his  su- 
perior learning  and  brilliancy.  In  accordance  with 
this  misguided  opinion  and  influence,  the  main  re- 
liance is  placed  upon  the  minister's  power  to  make 
a  display  of  his  extraordinary  endowments.  The 
earnest  and  devout  believers,  that  walk  humbly  be- 
fore God,  draw  near  to  the  mercy-seat,  and  bring 
down  the  blessings  of  divine  love,  are  simply  toler- 
ated, instead  of  being  gratefully  esteemed.  The 
long-tested  instrumentalities,  that  have  so  often 
aroused  slumbering  consciences  and  imparted  new 
life  to  the  languishing  hopes  of  the  children  of 
God,  are  deliberately  abandoned  for  empty,  popular 
attractions.  The  paramount  idea  being  to  please 
and  to  be  pleased,  but  little  attention  is  given  to 
that  which  aims  directly  and  only  to  humble  and 
save. 

-  3.  False  ideas  of  religious  culture.  Complacently 
cherishing  the  persuasion  of  their  superiority,  and 
diverted  from  the  character  of  true  religion,  deluded 
members  of  the  Church  give  more  and  more  regard 
to  that  which  the  world  loves  and  envies.  The  rest- 
less fancy  roams  delighted  in  the  vision  of  splen- 
did churches,  artistic  music,  and  large,  wealthy, 
and  cultivated,  congregations.  Elegance,  refine- 
ment, fashion,  become  the  cardinal  virtues,  para- 


THE   IIINDERAXCES   OF   THE   GOSPEL.  191 

mount  to  all  spiritual  requirements.  The  loftiest 
spire,  the  loudest  bell,  the  grandest  organ,  the  cost- 
liest chandelier,  the  richest  carpet,  the  most  luxu- 
rious pews,  the  most  spacious  nave,  the  most 
operatic  choir,  the  most  sensational  pulpit  —  these 
become  the  leading  objects  of  interest,  while  simple- 
heartedness,  humility,  self-  denial,  and  Christlike 
sympathy  and  devotion,  are  relegated  to  those  who 
are  not  too  high  in  the  world,  or  in  their  own  esti- 
mation, to  be  in  earnest  about  the  verities  of  relig- 
ion. The  sesthetical  is  thrust  out  of  its  proper 
relations  to  the  cause  it  is  intended  to  subserve,  and 
is  installed  in  the  chief  place  in  the  temple  of  human 
excellency.  Here  links  on  the  whole  mechanism 
of  changing  fashion  —  all  that  misguided  enthusi- 
asm associates  with  the  sentimental  theories  of 
higher  culture.  Under  such  a  reign  of  the  exquis- 
ite taste  of  deluded  pride,  there  is  no  time  or  room 
for  the  cry  of  the  mourner,  for  the  wrestling  prayer 
in  the  altar,  for  the  stirring  revival-hymn,  for  the 
-joyous  exclamations  of  the  young  convert,  or  the 
rapturous  shouts  of  those  that  are  baptized  anew 
with  a  Saviour's  love.  Alas!  such  are  the  life  and 
conduct  of  some  Churches  that,  without  being  either 
unreasonable  or  unkind,  one  may  ask  the  question, 
Is  it  not  generally  true  that  the  intensity  of  spirit- 
ual devotion  is  inversely  as  the  measure  of  worldly 
wealth  and  social  position?  It  is  not  surprising 
that  in  such  Churches  the  ministers  sometimes  yield 
to  the  prevailing  influence,  and  turn  away  from  the 
infallible  word  of  God,  to  dazzle  the  minds  of 
admirers  with  brilliant  displays  of  pleasing  but 


102       THE  HINDERANCES  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

powerless  and  unsanctified  learning.  Let  it  be  re- 
membered that  these  congregations,  as  united  bod- 
ies, and  many  of  their  members,  as  individuals, 
owing  to  their  social  prominence,  are  sure  to  im- 
press their  peculiarities,  to  some  degree,  upon  the 
multitude  of  their  susceptible,  imitative  observers. 
Should  we  wonder  at  the  slow  progress  of  the  cause 
of  God? 

4.  Want  of  self-denial.  The  surrendering  of  all 
for  Christ  is  the  beginning  of  all  genuine  religion, 
and  the  constant  subordination  of  all  that  one  con- 
trols to  the  will  of  God  is  indispensable  to  a  relig- 
ious life.  In  this  we  have  the  secret  of  the  hard 
struggles  of  the  penitent,  and  the  reason  why  there 
is  necessity  for  faithful  watching  and  prayer  through- 
out the  life  of  the  Christian.  But,  alas!  how  hard 
it  is  to  give  up  the  world!  Often,  when  conscience 
and  self-love  drive  the  imperiled  soul  into  the  visi- 
ble Church,  the  continued  love  of  that  which  is  for- 
bidden leads  to  the  lowering  of  the  standard  of  re- 
ligion to  the  plane  of  worldly  indulgence.  There 
is  a  restless  eifort  to  make  unauthorized  compro- 
mises with  sin.  There  is  an  unwarrantable  blending 
of  those  principles  and  practices  that  are  unmistak- 
ably incompatible.  Self-denial  is  pledged  in  profes- 
sion, but  self-indulgence  is  betrayed  in  the  conduct. 
Christian  duty  is  blindly  wedded  to  ungodly  cus- 
tom. The  card-table  and  the  communion-table,  the 
prayer-meeting  and  the  ball-room,  the  theater  and 
the  sanctuary,  devotion  to  the  crucified  Saviour  and 
to  the  "pride  of  life" — these  all  appear  to  be  placed 
unbliishingly  in  the  same  category.  But  no  man 


THE   IIINDERANCES   OF   THE   GOSPEL.  193 

can  serve  two  masters.  The  experiment  always  re- 
sults in  peculiar  but  positive  service  to  the  world, 
and  direct  and  terrible  injur}^  to  the  real  interests 
of  the  Church.  But  this  inconsistency  is  not  lim- 
ited to  that  alone  which  is  generally  designated  by 
the  name  of  pleasure.  There  is  much  self-indul- 
gence under  the  garb  of  reputable  business.  In  this 
stirring  age,  multitudes  are  devoting  to  their  secu- 
lar employment  much  of  the  time  and  care  that 
justly  belong  to  their  religious  duties.  There  is 
fearful  potency  in  the  charm  that  the  daily  occupa- 
tion fastens  upon  every  power  of  the  soul.  The 
eager  rush  of  trade-life,  the  stimulus  of  fierce  com- 
petition, the  abundant  pretexts  of  professional  en- 
gagements, the  exacting  demands  of  social  customs, 
the  claims  of  numerous  enterprises  and  societies — 
with  specious  names  and  purposes — the  unresisted 
sway  of  partisan  feelings,  and  the  presumptuous 
dictates  of  one's  political  party — these,  each  and  all, 
make  tremendous  drafts  upon  the  time,  talent,  and 
treasure,  that  are  due  to  the  paramount  interests  of 
immortal  souls. 

5.  Loss  of  the  sense  of  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
the  private  members  of  the  Church.  There  is  very 
much  greater  capability  for  moral  achievement  in 
the  vast  multitudes  of  private  members  than  in  the 
comparatively  few  that  are  ministers,  or  that  hold 
official  positions.  The  general  spread  of  useful 
learning,  the  extensive  dissemination  of  religious 
intelligence,  and  the  peculiar  genius  of  modern  so- 
ciety, render  it  possible  for  all  classes  in  the  Church 
to  exert  a  telling  influence,  and  perform  highly 
9 


194  THE    HINDERAXCES    OF    THE   GOSPEL. 

effective  service,  in  behalf  of  the  vital  interests  and 
leading  objects  of  Christianity.  Hence,  the  princi- 
ple of  wise  economy  unites  with  the  law  of  the 
talents  in  requiring  every  professed  disciple  of  Jesus 
to  do  what  he  can,  not  only  in  working  out  his  own 
salvation,  but  also  in  extending  all  possible  aid  unto 
others.  But  what  do  we  see  as  the  usual  policy  of 
Churches  respecting  this  main  department  of  their 
strength?  While  they  zealously  contend  for  the 
right  of  private  judgment,  and  to  a  degree  accept 
the  doctrine  of  personal  accountability  to  God,  there 
is  still  a  tendency  in  congregations  and  in  individ- 
uals to  impose  nearly  all  of  the  many  and  arduous 
duties  involved  in  religious  work  upon  those  who 
hold  some  official  position.  The  Church  is  an  army 
in  which  many  seem  to  think  the  leaders  are  to  do 
not  only  the  planning  and  directing,  but  also  the 
lighting.  Multitudes  of  those  who  consider  them- 
selves the  servants  of  God  have  little,  if  any,  appre- 
ciation of  the  labor  to  be  done.  Though  they  bear 
the  name  of  the  children  of  God,  they  do  not  realize 
the  fearful  obligation  resting  upon  them  to  look 
after  the  interests  of  their  Father's  kingdom.  As 
they  have  no  experience  in  Christian  effort,  they 
live  and  die  without  a  practical  knowledge  of  the 
methods  and  means  of  Christian  usefulness.  As 
they  do  not  exercise  their  special  gifts,  they  never 
attain  unto  godly  skill,  or  learn  for  themselves,  or 
reveal  to  others,  their  latent  powers.  As  they  do 
not  faithfully  cultivate  Christlike  sympathy,  inter- 
cession, toil,  and  sacrifice,  they  develop  no  glowing 
zeal,  feel  no  assurance  of  Heaven's  approving  smiles, 


THE  HINDERANCES  OF  THE  GOSPEL.       195 

and  enjoy  no  inspiring  prospects  of  glorious  reward. 
They  are  burdens  when  they  should  be  blessings. 
They  are  stumbling-blocks  when  they  should  be 
helpers.  Their  talents  are  buried.  Their  work  is 
undone.  "Clouds  they  are  without  water;"  "trees 
whose  fruit  withereth,  without  fruit."  Verily,  the 
inactivity  of  the  laity  is  a  great  hinderance  to  the 
gospel. 

6.  Errors  respecting  public  opinion.  The  common 
judgment  of  society,  when  based  upon  a  reasonable 
degree  of  interest,  integrity,  and  information,  should 
be  respectfully  considered.  But  when  public  opin- 
ion, as  often  obtains,  means  merely  the  wayward, 
popular  voice,  or  the  general  sentiment  of  the  min- 
gled multitude,  without  regard  to  their  qualifica- 
tions to  form  an  intelligent  judgment  on  the  subject 
in  question,  it  must  not  be  admitted  as  a  potent 
factor  in  deciding  the  words  and  actions  of  one  who 
is  pledged  to  the  right.  Yet  it  is  a  deplorable  truth, 
that  many  members  of  the  Church  deliberately  de- 
termine the  course  they  will  pursue  in  servile  defer- 
ence to  what  they  believe  others  will  think  and  say. 
They  do  despite  to  that  authority  which  their  vows 
at  God's  altar  bind  them  supremely  to  respect.  The 
imperative  dictates  of  conscience  are  traitorously 
ignored  for  the  voice  of  the  unregenerate  world, 
and  of  cold,  unfaithful  professors.  This  false  re- 
gard for  public  opinion  has  often  prevented  the 
confession  of  penitence,  sealed  the  lips  to  prayer  and 
praise,  checked  the  tears  of  holy  sympathy,  sup- 
pressed the  voice  of  Christian  counsel,  turned  the 
feet  into  forbidden  wavs,  seduced  the  heart  to  sinful 


196  THE    HINDERANCES    OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

pleasures,  left  the  truth  without  defense,  and  even 
caused  the  soul  to  deny  its  Lord. 

7.  Forget/illness  of  the  immediate  providence  of  God. 
The  word  of  God  assures  us  that  "all  things  work 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  to  them 
that  are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose." 

There  are  some  who  emhrace  this  doctrine  in  a 
spirit  of  unwarrantable  self-esteem,  appearing  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Father  of  all  is  gracious  and  loving  to 
them  in  a  peculiar  sense  and  extraordinary  degree. 
This  is  selfishness,  and  selfishness  is  sin.  Others 
rashly  assume  the  merciful  interposition  of  divine 
favor  in  their  behalf,  although  they  are  conscious 
of  frequent  willful  violations  of  the  commandments 
of  God.  They  boldly  claim  the  promises,  while  they 
constantly  neglect  the  conditions.  The  man  that 
does  not  lead  a  Christian  life  has  no  right,  in  self- 
complacency,  to  say  of  any  event  that  "all's  for  the 
best." 

But  the  most  common  error  in  respect  to  divine 
providence  consists  in  the  failure  to  recognize  the 
active  presence  of  God  in  all  the  interests  and  facts 
in  common  life.  It  is  difficult  to  appreciate  the  ex- 
tent to  which  this  error  prevails.  It  permeates  the 
whole  body  of  our  language.  Every  page  of  the 
English  lexicon  shows  "a  mingling  of  accident  with 
order,  of  chance  with  design."  Common  speech  not 
only  expresses  but  influences  and  fashions  common 
thought.  Thus  our  ideas  pass  from  mind  to  mind 
on  a  bridge  composed  in  part  of  language-skepti- 
cism. The  very  word  "providence"  supplants  the 
idea  of  God,  and  often  gets  between  the  mind  and 


THE    HINDERAXCES    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  197 

the  divine  presence.  Men  that  are  learned  in  many 
respects  often  substitute  the  mere  name  laiv,  law  of 
nature — which  is  but  the  name  of  the  methods  of  an 
ever-present,  acting  God — for  the  real  divine  agent 
by  whose  immediate  will  all  of  nature  is  unceasing- 
ly upheld,  directed,  and  controlled.  Multitudes  of 
those  who  profess  to  be  Christians  too  often  form 
their  opinions,  guide  their  actions,  and  interpret 
events,  by  their  own  or  other  human  judgment, 
without  the  slightest  recognition  of  Him  who  gov- 
erns all  things  from  the  least  unto  the  greatest.  It 
.is  distressingly  common  for  avowed  believers  in 
Christ  to  show,  by  word  and  deed,  that  they  place 
more  reliance  on  the  temporal,  the  natural,  and  the 
human,  than  upon  the  word  and  providence  of  their 
Heavenly  Father.  Thus  they  come  to  think  of  God 
as  far  off.  By  this  dim,  cold,  distant  idea  of  him, 
they  are  inspired  with  superstitious  dread  rather 
than  peaceful  confidence  and  grateful  love.  Forget- 
ful that  God  is  supreme,  and  that  his  promises  cover 
all  the  possible,  they  murmur  at  reverses  that  are 
trivial,  stagger  under  crosses  that  are  light,  and  re- 
coil before  opposition  that  the  weakest  Christian 
need  not  fear.  Surely  this  is  not  vital  Christianity. 
It  ought  to  be  called  pitiful  infidelity.  It  contra- 
dicts the  word  of  the  Lord.  It  most  grievously  af- 
fects the  influence  and  progress  of  religion. 

8.  Neglect  of  proper  discipline.  When  a  person 
joins-the  visible  Church,  he  thereby  enters  volunta- 
rily into  a  formal  covenant.  His  vows  at  admission 
bind  him  to  a  faithful  obedience  to  the  specified  re- 
quirements, and  to  a  consistent  exemplification  of 


198      THE  HINDERANCES  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

the  doctrines,  by  a  godly  walk  and  conversation  to 
the  end  of  life.  As  long  as  his  vows  are  maintained, 
his  ecclesiastical  rights  cannot  justly  be  taken  from 
him ;  but  as  soon  as  his  vows  are  violated,  his  claim 
to  membership  is  essentially  forfeited,  and  he  re- 
mains in  the  Church  only  through  neglect  or  tolera- 
tion. But  the  benign  spirit  of  Christianity  moder- 
ates the  discipline  that  untempered  justice  would 
inflict.  That  spirit  dictates  that  the  offender  shall 
be  dealt  with  in  reference  to  the  threefold  object  of 
his  own  restoration,  the  admonition  of  others,  and 
the  vindication  and  protection  of  the  Church.  When 
an  offense  is  committed,  the  first  object  should  be  to 
induce  the  offender  to  recover  what  he  has  lost,  and 
to  repair,  as  far  as  possible,  the  injury  he  has  done. 
"When  the  forbearance  and  effort  that  are  consist- 
ent with  both  charity  and  integrity  have  failed  to 
accomplish  this,  his  positive  excommunication  is 
the  only  reasonable  alternative.  It  is  then  necessa- 
ry to  the  safety  and  success  of  the  Church.  Purity 
is  an  indispensable  condition  of  moral  influence. 
Gross  infractions  of  the  laws  that  God  has  instituted 
for  the  regulation  of  the  spiritual  life  will  surely 
lead  to  the  shame  and  overthrow  of  the  Church  that 
tolerates  them.  There  is  no  consistent  judgment 
or  mercy  in  the  blind  forbearance  that  shields  an 
offender  to  the  injury  of  religion.  The  Church  of 
Christ  was  never  intended  to  be  the  resting-place 
of  those  who  are  traitors  to  the  sacred  cause.  The 
word  of  God  and  the  history  of  his  Church  prove 
that  if  those  members  that  bring  reproach  on  their 
profession  are  permitted  to  hold  their  places,  and 


THE    HINDRANCES    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  199 

continue  their  demoralizing  course,  it  is  impossible 
for  the  Church  to  which  they  belong  to  maintain  its 
influence  with  Heaven,  or  to  exert  its  full  measure 
of  saving -power  upon  the  world.  While  this  is 
unmistakably  plain  to  all,  we  must  with  sorrow  say 
that  there  are  some  Churches  in  our  land  that  do 
not  have  a  discipline  as  high  as  the  merely  moral 
requirements  of  the  Decalogue.  How  many  are 
subject  to  covetousness!  and  "  covetousness  is  idol- 
atry." How  common  in  Churches  are  those  "  works 

of  the  flesh, hatred,  variance,  emulations, 

wrath,  strife,  seditions,  heresies,  envyiugs, 

revelings,  and  such  like!"  "  They  which  do  such 
things  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  How 
often  do  members  escape  even  admonition,  not  to 
say  prosecution,  when  they  are  known  to  be  guilty 
of  profaning  the  Sabbath,  or  drinking  or  selling 
spirituous  liquors,  or  practicing  dishonesty  in  busi- 
ness, or  indulging  in  ungodly  conversation,  or  pat- 
ronizing wicked  amusements,  or  violating  their  plain 
obligations  in  trade-life,  or  withholding  what  God 
requires  for  the  poor,  or  wasting  their  time  in  idle-' 
ness  or  folly,  or  neglecting  the  plainest  and  most 
important  Christian  duties — such  as  attending  the 
public  worship,  taking  the  sacrament  of  the  Supper, 
holding  family-prayer,  observing  proper  secret  devo- 
tion, and  studying  the  Holy  Scriptures! 

9.  Want  of  consecration.  True  religion  means  all 
the  heart,  and  all  the  powers,  and  all  the  life,  for 
Christ.  No  man  becomes  a  Christian  until  he  gives 
all  to  God;  no  man  continues  a  Christian,  with  pow- 
er to  prevail  at  the  throne  of  grace,  any  longer 


200  THE   HINDERANCES   OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

than  he  maintains  this  attitude  of  complete  surren- 
der. How  does  the  average  Church-life  compare 
with  this?  Nominal  Christians  possess  abundant 
strength,  influence,  property,  and  education,  to  se- 
cure the  rapid  progress  of  Zion,  and  the  speedy 
evangelization  of  every  nation  on  earth;  but,  alas! 
the  spirit  of  entire  consecration  is  wanting.  This 
subject  rises  into  stupendous  significance  when  we 
consider  that  whatever  is  withheld  from  God  is 
thereby  unquestionably  added  to  the  resources  and 
agencies  of  the  world-power  that  is  essentially  ar- 
rayed against  the  cause  of  Christ.  How  can  it  be 
said  that  one  belongs  to  the  Church  while  his  time, 
and  money,  and  skill,  and  influence,  and  effort,  are 
constantly  given  to  the  world?  Who  wonders  that 
the  world  is  not  conquered  ? 

II.  The  duty  of  the  earnest  Christian  in  view  of  these 
hinderances. 

First,  it  should  be  remembered  that  there  have 
been  hinderances  throughout  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity. While  their  phenomenal  forms  have  changed 
from  age  to  age,  their  real  nature  has  continued  the 
same.  What  sins  can  be  mentioned  that  did  not 
brand  the  character  of  individual  disciples  and  blot 
the  name  of  Churches  in  the  apostolic  age?  Greater 
crimes  were  more  common  among  the  professed 
disciples  of  Jesus  then  than  now.  What  sickening 
depravity  has  been  revealed  by  the  Church  itself,  in 
every  Christian  land,  from  the  first  century  to  our 
own  day!  It  is  a  bold  declaration,  but  confidently 
made,  that,  in  view  of  all  involved,  there  is  relatively 
less  opposition  to  genuine  religion  in  this  day  than 


THE  HINDERANCES  OF  THE  GOSPEL.      201 

in  any  other  of  its  career.  The  power  and  prestige 
of  the  Church  have  been  incalculably  aughiented. 
Christianity  is  now  so  interwoven  with  the  lan- 
guage, character,  aims,  customs,  laws,  and  interests 
of  the  mightiest  nations  on  earth,  that  its  complete 
overthrow  and  eradication  may  justly  be  declared 
an  absolute  impossibility.  Its  achievements  in  the 
salvation  of  men,  in  the  exaltation  of  nations,  and 
in  the  promotion  of  all  human  welfare,  stand  forth 
in  the  brightest  light  of  history  as  an  unparalleled 
glory,  and  an  unanswerable  vindication  of  its  claim 
to  superhuman  origin,  spirit,  and  power.  To-day 
it  has  more  disciples,  greater  advantages,  and  might- 
ier instrumentalities  at  its  command,  than  it  could 
have  claimed  in  any  other  age.  There  may  have 
been  times  when  a  larger  proportion  of  the  world's 
powers  were  professedly  devoted  to  its  interests, 
but  those  powers  were  directed  too  much  by  world- 
ly ambition  or  deplorable  fanaticism.  Its  eventful 
past  and  fortified  present  are  the  convincing  proph- 
ecies of  its  victorious  future.  Its  sufficiency  under 
indescribable  sufferings  in  the  periods  of  its  com- 
parative weakness  assures  us  that  there  can  be  noth- 
ing too  formidable  for  its  strength  in  these  grand 
years  of  its  disciplined  power  and  stupendous  devel- 
opment. There  are  shadows,  dark  shadows,  now 
and  then,  but  the  sun  shines  on,  and,  when  the 
clouds  are  driven  by  the  winds,  the  undimmed  ra- 
diance gleams  over  mountain  and  plain.  The  un- 
precedented advancement  in  art  and  science  in  this 
century  of  wonders  has  furnished  corresponding 
facilities  for  the  advocacy  and  dissemination  of  di- 
9* 


202  THE   HINDERANCES   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

vine  truth.  While  the  doctrines  of  the  great  Teach- 
er are  constantly  tested  and  verified  by  thousands 
of  the  wisest  and  best  of  our  race,  there  is  a  most 
auspicious  ecclesiastical  enterprise,  in  the  main  pe- 
culiar to  this  century,  that  gives  cheering  promise 
of  invincible  organization  and  glorious  progress  for 
the  Church  of  God  in  the  next  generation.  I  refer 
to  the  work  of  the  Sabbath-school.  Before  science 
can  bewilder,  or  fashion  delude,  or  wealth  corrupt, 
or  vanity  inflate,  the  impressible  minds  of  the  chil- 
dren are  preoccupied  with  the  ineradicable  convic- 
tions of  the  truth,  the  efficacy,  and  the  preciousness, 
of  the  gospel.  Thus  all  the  insidious  plans  of  the 
enemies  of  the  soul  are  wisely  forestalled.  Better 
means  are  provided  for  the  godly  training  of  the 
young  to-day  than  have  been  furnished  by  the  fol- 
lowers of  Christ  in  any  land  in  any  other  age.  In 
this  grand  movement  the  men  of  God  are  like  the 
wise  Highlanders  in  their  plans  to  extinguish  the 
tornadoes  of  fire  that  were  blasting  their  forest-hills. 
With  purpose  bold  and  hearts  of  hope  those  hardy 
peasants  rushed  away  before  the  defiant  flames,  and 
cut  the  broad  lane  through  the  crowded  wood,  so 
that  the  baffled  fire  sought  in  vain  for  fuel  when  it 
reached  the  scene  of  their  battling  toil.  Thus,  when 
the  multiplying  millions  of  the  Sabbath -school  chil- 
dren are  reached  by  the  threatening  forces  of  shame- 
less vice  and  arrogant  infidelity,  the  well -trained 
host  wilt  be  prepared,  with  both  heart  and  skill,  for 
determined  and  triumphant  resistance.  It  may  rea- 
sonably be  doubted  whether  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity furnishes,  since  the  day  of  Pentecost,  another 


THE    UES7DERANCES    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  203 

chapter  so  full  of  all  that  should  inspire  confidence 
and  exultation  as  that  which  is  presented  in  the 
work  of  the  Church  for  the  children  in  our  day. 

Secondly,  in  view  of  the  hinderances,  the  para- 
mount duty — that  which  stands  as  an  absolute  pre- 
requisite to  all  other  duties — consists  in  individual 
fidelity  to  God's  righteous  requirements.  There 
must  be  a  consecrated  purpose  to  have  life  and 
power  in  personal  devotion  —  zeal  and  activity  in 
one's  own  work  for  religion.  Simplicity,  fervor,  and 
whole -heartedness,  must  characterize  the  prayers 
and  deeds  of  every  disciple.  Above  all  claims  of 
creeds,  all  teachings  of  example,  all  tendencies  of 
fashion,  all  allurements  of  the  world,  all  demands 
of  business,  all  pressure  of  the  multitude,  there 
must  be  prompt,  unwavering  obedience  to  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Lord  in  respect  to  purity  in  one's 
heart  and  life,  and  to  enthusiasm  and  sacrifice  in 
labor  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  This  involves  faith- 
ful seeking  for  the  testimony  that  God  is  well  pleased 
with  the  condition  of  the  heart,  the  character  of  the 
motives,  and  the  methods  of  the  work  that  is  per- 
formed ostensibly  for  the  sake  of  Christianity.  Yes; 
the  true  test  is  in  the  consciousness — in  the  heart. 
The  religion  that  withstands  temptation  and  perse- 
cution must  be  sustained  by  indubitable  assurance — 
resting  on  intellectual  conviction  and  correspondent 
feelings.  First,  there  is  faith  in  the  truth  of  God's 
word;  then,  holy  impulses  to  duty;  then,  self-sur- 
rendering trust  in  the  Father  of  Mercy,  through  the 
merits  of  Christ.  This  trust,  which  is  the  free-will's 
offering  of  self  and  all  to  the  Saviour,  is  what  is 


204  THE   HINDERANCES    OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

called  saving  faith.  It  is  followed  immediately  by 
some  measure  of  peculiar  peace  and  joy.  Hope  is 
kindled.  Love  wells  up  in  the  soul.  There  is  a 
sense  of  the  warming  of  the  heart  toward  God. 
When  we  feel  that  we  love  God,  we  feel  sure  that 
God  loves  us.  The  knowledge  of  his  love  fortifies 
us  against  all  evils  and  foes,  and  prepares  us  for 
sacrifice,  toil,  and  suffering,  in  his  cause.  It  makes 
the  heart  feel  "  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
that  strengtheneth  me."  Profound  consciousness 
of  the  divine  favor  is  the  true  panoply  of  the  soldier 
of  the  cross.  Without  that  consciousness  he  is  weak 
in  desire,  purpose,  and  effort;  but  with  it,  he  is  an 
invincible  hero.  Those  who  wish  to  be  useful  as 
Christians  must,  by  maintaining  humble  trust  and 
singleness  of  purpose,  have  in  themselves  continually 
the  all-sustaining  testimony  that  they  please  God. 

As  a  necessary  condition  of  peace,  welfare,  and 
usefulness,  it  is  the  privilege  and  duty  of  the  Chris- 
tian to  apprehend  the  doctrine  of  God's  providence 
in  all  things.  The  realization  of  his  loving  pres- 
ence makes  faith  stronger,  and  hope  brighter,  and 
love  intenser.  When  thoroughly  realized,  it  re- 
strains the  soul  from  sin,  perpetually  impresses 
the  necessity  of  purity,  keeps  the  heart  aglow  with 
the  fervor  of  grateful  love,  and  stimulates  to  a 
watchful  and  zealous  performance  of  the  divine  will 
in  every  duty.  It  sweetens  the  simplest  pleasures, 
it  ennobles  the  humblest  tasks,  it  illumines  the  dark- 
est hours,  and  solves  the  gravest  problems  of  human 
life.  It  is  the  vital  breath  of  prayer,  the  basal  faith 
on  which  all  other  Christian  faith  must  rest,  the 


THE    HINDERANCES    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  205 

grand,  essential  requisite  for  loyal  work  and  tri- 
umphant success  in  the  service  of  God.  Under  its 
inspiration,  every  object  that  is  beheld  utters  a  voice 
of  more  than  earthly  significance;  every  pleasure, 
small  or  great,  is  rendered  precious  by  the  ennobling 
benediction  of  Heaven;  every  trouble  is  softened 
and  subdued  by  the  melting  smiles  of  Redeeming 
Love;  and  the  whole  spiritual  nature,  kept  in  lively 
exercise,  finds  in  every  experience  something  that 
stimulates  its  energy,  expands  its  capacity,  and  fur- 
nishes new  weapons  and  skill  for  godly  achieve- 
ment. Thus  God  becomes  "  a  very  present  help," 
a  constant  companion,  feeling  ever  nearer  and  nearer, 
growing  ever  dearer  and  dearer.  The  soul,  enjoy- 
ing a  perpetual  consciousness  of  infallible  security 
and  unearthly  peace,  by  day  and  night,  in  all  pos- 
sible changes,  in  toil  or  rest,  in  hope  or  fear,  in  pain 
or  pleasure,  in  smiles  or  tears,  may  exultantly  ex- 
claim, My  Saviour  knows,  directs,  and  sanctifies  it  all! 
In  such  a  state  the  heart  beats  always  in  holy  trust 
to  the  heavenly  refrain  of  "All  is  well!" 

But  the  safety  and  usefulness  of  the  Christian  ab- 
solutely require  fidelity  in  maintaining  good  works. 
He  must  have  that  mind  in  him  that  was  in  Christ 
Jesus.  He  must  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Jesus. 
The  only  work  of  Jesus  is  to  seek  and  to  save  the 
lost.  If  we  expect  his  companionship,  sympathy, 
and  cooperation,  we  must  be  engaged  in  the  same 
purposes  and  efforts  in  which  he  is  engaged.  If 
we  enjoy  the  presence  and  help  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
we  must  be  aiding  in  his  work  of  seeking  to  con- 
summate the  glorious  enterprise  of  the  world's  salva- 


206  THE    IIINDERAXCES    OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

tion.  To  work  sincerely  for  God  is  to  work  with  God. 
To  work  with  God  is  to  become  more  and  more 
partakers  of  his  nature,  to  grow  more  and  more 
like  him.  It  exalts  every  act  in  life  to  an  ennobling 
relation  to  the  heavenly.  It  links  every  day  in  life 
by  the  golden  chain  of  obedience  to  the  grandeur 
of  the  everlasting.  It  gives  to  human  life  on  earth 
much  of  the  genius  of  immortality.  It  makes  the 
voices  of  memory  mingle  in  sweet  harmony  with 
the  songs  of  hope  and  the  benedictions  of  Sov- 
ereign Mercy.  It  enables  the  soul  to  look  back  and 
know  that  it  has  done  something  for  God,  and  laid 
up  some  treasure  in  heaven.  Be  not  cast  down, 
though  you  may  be  feeble,  faint,  and  poor.  The 
Lord  will  help  you  to  work.  He  can  and  does 
work  by  few  or  many,  by  great  or  small.  Do  what 
you  can — God  will  require  no  more.  Pray  for  the 
right.  Pray  in  faith  and  love.  Be  true  in  all  things, 
that  you  may  be  able  to  prevail  when  you  pray. 
Talk  for  Jesus.  Be  a  consistent  Christian,  that  your 
words,  though  broken  and  plain,  may  ring  with  the 
superhuman  eloquence  of  piety  and  truth.  Live 
out  pure  and  undefiled  religion  before  the  world, 
that  your  example  may  be  an  effectual  instrument 
of  salvation  in  the  hands  of  Almighty  Love.  I  en- 
treat you,  I  implore  you,  I  warn  you,  before  you  go 
to  the  bar  of  final  judgment,  strive  to  do  more,  to 
do  better,  for  the  cause  of  Ciirist,  than  you  have 
yet  done.  Let  what  remains  of  your  life  of  proba- 
tion be  more  wisely  spent.  Be  not  dismayed  by  the 
coldness  of  the  Church,  the  assaults  of  skepticism, 
or  the  wickedness  of  the  age.  All  this  is  but  the 


THE    IIINDERANCES    OF    THE    GOSPEL.  207 

peculiar  form  of  trial  for  the  Church  of  God  in  our 
day.  There  have  always  been  great  trials  for  the 
followers  of  Christ.  Sometimes  there  is  bloody 
persecution ;  sometimes,  dangerous  worldly  prosper- 
ity; sometimes, wide-spread  apostasy;  sometimes,  fa- 
natical heresy;  sometimes,  bold  and  powerful  attacks 
upon  the  Bible;  but  God's  grace  has  always  been, 
is  to-day,  and  will  forever  be,  sufficient  for  all.  There 
is  no  just  cause  for  alarm.  The  Church  has  been  a 
safe  refuge  in  the  past — it  will  be  a  safe  refuge  to 
the  end  of  time.  It  will  never  be  destroyed.  It  is 
the  only  institution  on  earth  whose  foundations  are 
eternal.  It  is  the  fold  of  Christ;  and  the  omnipo- 
tent Shepherd  never  slumbers.  It  is  the  "habita- 
tion of  God,"  and  therefore  the  very  home-love  of 
the  Infinite  will  defend  it.  It  is  the  "  body  of 
Christ,"  and  has  therefore  already  passed  through 
the  final  resurrection  unto  immortality.  It  is  the 
"strength  and  glory  of  God,"  and  that  strength  is 
unbounded,  and  that  glory  everlasting.  0,  then, 
cling  to  it,  pray  for  it,  toil  for  it,  live  for  it,  die  for 
it!  Its  ruler  is  the  Lord  of  lords  and  King  of  kings. 
Trust  in  Him,  and  faithfully  serve  Him,  and  you 
shall  enjoy  His  richest  blessings  on  earth,  and  His 
endless  salvation  in  heaven.  Let  the  most  anxious 
cry  of  your  longing  spirit  ever  be: 

0  Father,  haste  the  promised  hour 

When  at  His  feet  shall  lie 
All  rule,  authority,  and  power, 

Beneath  the  ample  sky ; 
When  He  shall  reign  from  pole  to  pole, 
The  Lord  of  every  human  soul ; 


208       THE  HINDERANCES  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

When  all  shall  heed  the  words  He  said, 

Amid  their  daily  cares, 
And  by  the  loving  life  He  led 

Shall  strive  to  pattern  theirs ; 
And  He  who  conquered  death  shall  win 
The  mightier  conquest  over  sin ! 


THE  REV.  MORGAN  CALLAWAY,  D.D., 

Ot  the  North  Georgia  Conference. 


XII. 

CHRISTIAN  COMMUNISM. 

BY  THE  REV.  M.  CALLAWAY,  A.M.,  D.D., 

North  Georgia  Conference. 

"Therefore  let  no  man  glory  in  men:  for  all  things  are 
yours;  whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or 
life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come ;  all  are 
yours;  and  ye  are  Christ's;  and  Christ  is  God's."  1  Cor. 
iii.  21-23. 

A  CLUSTER  of  paradoxes.  We  are  not  to  "glory 
in  men;"  nevertheless,  "Paul,  and  Apollos,  and  Ce- 
phas," are  ours,  and  ours  rejoicingly.  "The  world, 
and  life,  and  things  present,"  are  ours;  yet  elsewhere 
we  are  taught  to  "love  not  the  world,  neither  the 
things  of  the  world;  "  to  "take  no  thought  for  our 
life,  what  we  shall  eat,  or  what  we  shall  drink,  nor 
yet  for  our  body  what  we  shall  put  on."  "Death 
and  things  to  come"  are  ours,  yet  we  are  to  "take 
no  thought  for  the  morrow,  for  the  morrow  shall 
take  thought  for  the  things  of  itself."  And  death  is 
spoken  of  as  a  shadow,  a  terror,  an  enemy,  the  last 
to  be  overcome.  Stranger  than  all,  this  group  of 
properties  is  ours  because  "we  are  Christ's,  and 
Christ  is  God's." 

What  means  the  apostle?  Evidently  he  purposes 
to  rebuke  the  party  spirit  then  prevailing,  to  har- 
monize the  rivalries,  to  heal  the  divisions  forming 

(209) 


210  CHRISTIAN    COMMUNISM. 

and  threatening  the  unity  of  the  Church,  to  correct 
the  tendency  to  saint-worship,  and  to  indicate  the 
untrustvvorthiness  of  men  as  spiritual  guides.  He 
would  fix  forever  in  our  memory  a  reminder  that 
Christ  is  the  head  of  his  own  Church,  that  he  alone 
is  its  lawgiver,  and  that  he  only  is  worthy  of  wor- 
ship. The  admonitions  are  generally  as  well  as 
specifically  just,  for  the  Church  at  Corinth  is  not 
hy  itself  in  unseemly  variances  and  in  unchristianly 
followiugs.  The  history  of  the  Church  at  large  is 
largely  the  history  of  the  Church  at  Corinth. 
"Who  shall  be  greatest?"  had  been  asked  with 
reference  to  the  coming,  and  doubtless  felt  as  to  the 
present  kingdom,  by  those  who  stood  nearest  Jesus 
while  on  earth,  arid  now  thoughtless  Christians  are 
vaunting  devotion  to  men  as  zeal  for  Christ.  All 
down  the  Christian  centuries  this  shameless  folly  is 
repeated,  for  rarely  has  the  Church  been  without 
men  ambitious  of  leadership,  or  of  those  who  were 
ready  in  unholy  subservience;  nor  is  it  to-day, 
though  growing  in  grace,  so  spiritual  as  to  follow 
men  only  as  they  follow  Christ. 

Our  own  heart-history,  it  would  seem,  should  sug- 
gest the  probability  of  human  error,  unless,  forsooth, 
we  rely  confidently  on  our  insight,  feel  no  confusion 
from  doubts,  and  no  shame  from  sins.  If,  however, 
we  be  conscious  of  vitiated  powers,  and  of  a  per- 
verse use  of  them  at  their  best  estate,  we  shall  at 
once  accept  the  warning  of  the  apostle  as  timely 
and  deserved. 

Important  as  this  admonition  is,  it  is  but  prelimi- 
nary to  a  broader,  deeper  truth  of  the  text.  Paul 


CHRISTIAN    COMMUNISM.  211 

is  urging  the  Church  to  review  her  possessions,  and 
contemplate  her  pledged  inheritance,  and  in  so  doing 
the  cluster  of  paradoxes  becomes  a  coronet  of  pearls. 
As  the  resultant  teaching,  he  presents  what  we  shall 
designate  a  doctrine  of  Christian  Communism. 

We  transfer  the  term  from  a  civic  to  a  Christian 
office,  premising  that  communism  in  name  is  mod- 
ern, but  in  spirit  ancient — as  old,  indeed,  as  populous 
cities  and  poverty.  In  its  last  analysis  communism 
is  self-indulgence  at  the  expense  of  others.  By  its 
advocates  it  would  be  defined  as  the  championship 
of  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  many  as  against 
the  wrongs  and  tyrannies  of  the  few:  by  the  people 
it  is  understood  as  the  proposed  universal  pooling 
of  estates  for  equal  redistribution. 

Christian  communism  essays  to  appropriate  the 
possessions  of  all  Christians  to  each,  and  of  each  to 
all,  with  loss  to  none,  but  gain  to  all.  In  the  matter 
of  doctrine  and  representative  men  it  declares, 
"  Whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  all  are  ours." 
In  the  Christian  family,  and  probably  not  elsewhere 
so  unmistakably,  does  community  of  interest  work 
good  to  the  individual,  and  the  individual  interest 
work  to  the  good  of  the  community — where  the 
happiness  of  one  person  is  in  sharing  the  property 
of  all,  and  all  in  contributing  to  the  happiness  of 
each.  Communism  receives  the  Scriptures  as  a 
whole,  but  a  whole  made  up  of  parts;  as  "profit- 
able for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  in- 
struction in  righteousness,"  but  not  all  delivered  in 
one  book,  by  one  man,  or  class  of  men;  that  one 
doctrine  is  not  to  be  magnified  to  the  overshadow- 


212  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

ing  of  another;  that  one  true  representative  man  is 
not  to  be  heeded  to  the  discount  of  another;  that 
all  measures  of  inspiration,  all  grades  of  culture, 
all  orders  of  talent,  so  far  as  intrinsically  and  oper- 
atively  good,  are  to  be  counted  worthy  of  study  and 
imitation. 

Passing  without  pause  the  unbrotherly  dispute  of 
Paul  and  Barnabas,  the  blameworthy  lapses  of 
Peter,  the  necessity  to  Apollos  of  having  "the  way 
of  God  more  perfectly  expounded,"  it  may  be  truly 
said  that  no  one  of  them  so  knew  "the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus,"  or  had  so  experienced  of  his  grace, 
that  he  should  alone  present  the  doctrine  of  the 
cross  in  its  fullness,  or  furnish  in  his,  own  life  il- 
lustration for  all  of  the  largeness  of  its  blessing. 
Were  one  person  sufficient  to  construct  the  canon 
of  truth,  but  one  would  have  been  inspired;  were 
one  life  adequate  for  the  illustration  of  Christian 
biography,  but  one  would  have  been  portrayed. 
Were  these  eminent  three  able  to  compass  in  their 
life  and  teaching  the  sphere  of  Scripture  verities, 
the  Father  would  doubtless  have  omitted  the  anoint- 
ing of  others  for  sacred  writing  and  speaking.  Not 
to  mention  the  writers  of  the  Old,  the  .New  Testa- 
ment is  distinctly  distributive  of  topics  of  histo- 
ry and  doctrine,  of  experience  and  discipline,  as 
forming  the  full-orbed  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 
So  marked,  indeed,  is  this  feature  of  Holy  Writ, 
that  the  least  learned  see  it  when  pointed  out.  The 
synoptic  Gospels,  for  instance,  are  notably  occupied 
in  narrating  the  life  of  the  Son  of  man,  while  the 
fourth  Gospel  engages  us  with  the  Christ,  the  Son 


CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM.  213 

of  God.  Not,  indeed,  that  the  divine  nature  of  our 
Lord  is  unnoticed  in  the  synoptic,  or  that  his  human 
nature  is  slighted  in  the  fourth;  gleams  of  the 
divine-human  appear  in  both,  but  the  Son  of  man 
is  the  subject  of  the  former,  the  Son  of  God  of  the 
latter.  "Of  the  generation  of  Jesus,"  opens  the 
one;  "In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word 
was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God,"  is  the  lofty 
exordium  of  the  other.  Nay,  moreover,  in  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  teaching  of  the  Gospels,  in  the  Acts, 
and  in  its  discussion  too  in  the  Epistles,  order  and 
progress  are  observable,  not  unbroken,  it  is  true,  by 
rehearsals  of  facts  and  principles  previously  stated. 
The  stream  of  Christian  story  meanders,  but  it 
moves,  and  deepens  as  it  moves  in  its  enriching  flow. 
As  the  evangelists  in  the  Gospels,  so  the  apostles  in 
the  Epistles,  and  in  the  Revelation,  formulate  their 
own  teaching,  and  after  their  own  manner.  The 
teaching  is  as  unique  as  the  character  and  capacity 
of  the  several  authors,  and  no  one  character  is  the 
counterpart  of  another,  no  single  mind  emphasizes 
the  same  phase  of  truth  as  another,  no  single  school 
measures  the  circle  of  Christian  science. 

Paul  was  much  engaged  in  deducing  Christian 
doctrine  from  Scripture  narrative,  and,  we  may  say, 
in  modifying  it  by  the  richness  of  his  own  experi- 
ence, more,  probably,  than  all  other  New  Testament 
writers,  and,  by  consent  of  theologians,  more  suc- 
cessfully. His  conspicuous  conversion,  his  ready 
submission,  his  unselfish  surrender,  his  personal 
"perils,"  his  extraordinary  labors,  together  with 
his  forceful  statement  and  eloquent  defense  of  Chris- 


214  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

tian  doctrine,  constitute  him  the  hero  of  Protestant 
Christendom.  His  prominence,  however,  and  his 
learning,  and  even  his  apostolic  call,  did  not  free 
him  from  the  disabilities  of  the  race;  he  was  yet 
but  a  man,  and,  as  such,  subject  to  the  limitations 
imposed  by  the  Creator  on  the  knowledge  of  man. 
He  saw  not,  it  may  be,  "  through  a  glass  darkly," 
but  he  "  knew  but  in  part,  and  prophesied  but  in 
part." 

Before  science  had  declared  the  form  of  our  earth, 
or  the  Northmen,  followed  by  Columbus,  had  pop- 
ularly verified  it  by  the  discovery  of  the  Western 
Continent,  one  might  have  complacently  but  igno- 
rantly  supposed  the  Eastern  Continent  the  whole  of 
our  habitable  planet.  Realizing  its  existence  as  we 
do,  it  is  hard  for  us  to  understand  how  men  could 
so  long  be  ignorant  of  its  place  and  power  in  the 
equipoise  of  the  universe.  Did  we  not  know  of  the 
fourth  Gospel,  and  the  Epistles  of  John,  and  of 
Peter,  and  of  James,  we  might  content  ourselves 
with  the  other  Gospels  and  the  Epistles  of  Paul; 
but  we  have  listened  to  the  "  beloved  disciple"  in  his 
narrative  moods,  and  in  his  high  discourse  of  the 
Logos,  and,  following  him  in  his  Epistles,  we  have 
heard  like  simple,  deep,  soulful  utterances.  He 
wins  our  heart  mayhap  as,  leaning  on  his  bosom, 
he  communes  with  the  Master;  or  draws  us  by  the 
stronger  but  kindred  reason  that,  in  his  way,  he 
gives  us  the  comforting  last  words  of  our  ascending 
Saviour;  or  in  his  Epistles,  as  his  heart,  not  so 
much  toned  by  time  as  mellowed  by  holy  fellowship 
with  Christ,  he  illustrates  more  intimately  his  spe- 


CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM.  215 

cial  doctrine,  and  pleads  the  more  winningly  with 
us,  "Little  children,  love  one  another,  for  love  is 
of  God;"  or  he  impresses  us  with  his  cordial  and 
brotherly  greeting  of  the  "elect  lady;  "  or,  as  else- 
where, he  buoyantly  but  unboastfully  reminds  us 
who  we  are,  and  intimates  what  we  shall  be,  con- 
firming our  faith  by  the  ardor  of  his  own ;  or,  with- 
out modifying  our  estimate  of  his  theme,  still 
warmly  appreciative,  and  undisturbed  in  our  rev- 
erent love,  he  establishes  himself  in  our  heart  by 
vindicating  his  suppressed  manliness  and  sense  of 
right,  when  justly  aroused  and  dealing  with  willful 
wrong,  as  a  "  son  of  thunder"  he  righteously  flash- 
es indignation  on  the  offender.  As  the  foliage  of 
our  American  forests,  beauteous  in  the  emerald  of 
spring,  becomes  resplendently  so  in  the  gold  and 
scarlet  of  autumn,  so,  advancing  in  years,  but  clear- 
ing in  prophecy,  John  caught,  as  it  were,  from  the 
lips  of  the  Master,  messages  to  the  seven  Churches 
of  Asia,  commending  the  good,  rebuking  the  bad — 
messages  so  manifesting  the  scrutiny,  and  yet  the 
compassionate  watchfulness,  of  Him  who  "  walked 
in  the  midst  of  the  golden  candlesticks,"  that  we 
conclude  that  the  communion  of  John  and  Jesus  is 
closer  now  than  when  they  reclined  in  brotherly  in- 
timacy at  the  feast  of  the  Passover  in  the  upper 
chamber;  and  that,  as  he  neared  the  city  of  his  vis- 
ion, he  took  on  more  of  the  character  of  its  citizens 
and  more  of  the  likeness  of  its  King. 

ISTo;  as  much  as  we  need  Paul  and  his  gospel  of 
faith,  we  cannot  do  without  John  and  his  gospel  of 
love. 


216  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

Besides  grasp  of  doctrine,  there  are  happy  sur- 
roundings, providences  of  position,  personal  knowl- 
edges, which  fit  the  minister  of  every  order  for 
labors,  clothe  him  with  potencies,  and  adapt  him 
for  exigencies,  which  otherwise  could  not  be  so  fort- 
unately met.  And  so  of  the  apostles. 

In  the  nature  of  things,  Paul  could  have  no  ac- 
quaintance with  Jesus  as  man  with  man,  or  as  liv- 
ing disciple  with  living  Master.  In  all  that  pertains 
to  the  heroic,  his  life  is  rich  in  incidents,  but  to 
some  it  may  be  fearful  in  tragic  impressiveness.  To 
Paul  it  was  not  granted  to  look  upon  the  face  of 
the  Son  of  man,  only  as  veiled  in  blinding  light; 
nor  to  hear  his  voice,  only  as  rousing  a  Pharisaic 
conscience  to  Christian  wakefulness,  or  in  answer 
to  agonizing  prayer.  As  he  went  up  to  Damascus, 
Paul  saw  the  light  and  heard  the  voice  that  wrung 
from  him  recognition  and  obedience;  and  again,  as 
he  was  crying  with  self-repeating  earnestness  to  be 
delivered  from  the  "  thorn  in  the  flesh,"  the  same 
voice  said,  "  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee."  These 
two  occasions  were  enough  to  bring  home  to  him 
Christ's  power  to  convict,  sustain,  and  save.  Be- 
sides, "  Blessed,"  says  Christ  to  Thomas,  "  are  they 
that  have  not  seen  (me),  and  yet  have  believed." 

John,  however,  writes  "of  that  which  we  have 
heard,  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  which  we 
have  looked  upon,  and  our  hands  have  handled," 
and,  at  the  same  time,  "of  that  which  was  from  the 
beginning,  and  was  the  Word  of  life."  John  sees 
and  knows  Jesus  as  Mary  and  they  of  Bethany 
know  him;  is  with  him  as  he  "goes  about  doing 


CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM.  217 

i 

good,"  as  he  teaches,  or  as  he  works  miracles;  is  one 
of  the  honored  coterie  with  Jesus  in  the  death-cham- 
ber of  the  maiden,  in  the  garden  of  the  "bloody 
sweat,"  and  in  the  overpowering  splendor  of  Tabor; 
is  at  Calvary,  too,  sustaining  Mary,  and  giving  all 
he  could  express — the  sympathy  of  his  presence  to 
the  Crucified;  there,  furthermore,  to  take  upon  him, 
at  the  request  of  the  dying  Son,  the  care  of  the 
holy  mother;  is  with  the  eleven  when  the  risen 
Saviour  makes  himself  known  unto  them;  and  later 
he  enters  anticipatively  the  New  Jerusalem,  walks 
its  streets,  numbers  its  gates,  counts  its  towers, 
stands  near  the  throne,  bows  with  the  elders  before 
the  Lamb,  and  with  the  one  hundred  and  forty  and 
four  thousand  swells  the  song  of  the  redeemed.  So 
favored  a  mortal — an  intimate  of  Jesus,  a  man  hoty, 
a  disciple  teachable,  an  apostle  faithful,  a  saint  hon- 
ored— his  life  can  but  be  exemplary  and  stimulat- 
ing to  the  brotherhood,  as  his  doctrine  is  vital  to  the 
creed  of  the  Church. 

~  Stress  is  placed  on  the  life  and  labors  of  Paul  and 
John  because,  though,  of  all  writers  of  the  New 
Testament,  they  are  most  able  to  stand  unsupported, 
and  most  nearly  embrace  the  cardinal  tenets  of  our 
religion,  differing  widely,  as  they  do,  in  tempera- 
ment and  scope  of  inspiration,  and  yet  are  indis- 
pensable to  each  other  and  the  system  of  truth ;  for 
the  greater  reason  every  other  writer  needs  the  sup- 
port of  all  the  canonical  writers.  We  merely  for- 
mulate what  is  partially  disclosed  in  the  discussion 
when  we  say  that  the  Christian  ministry,  in  its 
variety  of  gifts  and  grace,  learning,  zeal,  and  elo- 
10 


218  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

qnence,  is  a  benediction.  But  how  blessed  soever 
each  teacher  and  doer  of  the  truth  may  be  to  the 
Church  and  the  world,  no  one  of  them  preaches  the 
whole  gospel,  or  discharges  all  its  holy  ministries. 
If  Paul  is  to  be  sustained  by  John,  and  John  by 
Paul;  if  Peter,  and  James,  and  the  rest,  is  necessary 
to  supplement  the  truth  as  taught  by  Paul  and  John, 
may  we  not  wonder  at  the  bigotry  of  sects  that 
blinds  them  to  their  own  deficiencies,  and  enlight- 
ens them  as  to  the  supposed  deficiencies  of  others? 
nay,  may  we  not  "do  well  to  be  angry"  with  the 
ecclesiastic  who  assumes  the  exclusive  shepherding 
of  God's  flock,  the  lording  it  over  his  heritage, 
whether  he  sits  in  the  Vatican  of  Roman  power,  or 
rules  the  chapel  of  some  mean  village? 

Christian  Communism  must  be  discriminated  from 
Optimism,  who  is  so  kindly  in  spirit  that  she  dis- 
cerns no  faults  and  foibles,  and  is  too  complacent  to 
be  wise.  Her  glasses  are  rose-colored,  disclosing  to 
her  naught  but  images  of  beauty.  Were  she  not 
so  amiable,  we  should  be  disposed  to  laugh  at  her 
mistakes.  Communism  is  amiable  too,  but  not 
blindly  so.  Her  eyes  sparkle  as  she  looks  abroad 
on  the  goodly  heritage  of  the  Church,  and  her  face 
beams  at  the  evidences  of  its  prosperity;  but  objects 
to  her  return  their  true  color,  and  a  shadow  there- 
fore sometimes  flits  over  her  countenance.  She  is 
seeking  the  good,  and,  of  course,  comes  at  times  on 
the  evil ;  but  she  delays,  not  as  the  mud-wasp,  to  take 
np  a  soil,  but  only  as  a  bee,  to  carry  off  a  sweet. 
Her  censures,  then,  are  negative,  but  none  the  less 
pointed,  for  praise  of  virtue  is  condemnation  of  vice. 


CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM.  219 

Religious  narrowness  is  an  offensive  weakness, 
for  it  comes  of  ignorance  of  self  and  of  society,  and 
is  damaging  to  the  spiritual  growth  of  the  individ- 
ual and  of  the  Church.  Paul  is  here  commending 
broadness  of  view,  catholicity  of  sentiment,  and  of 
consequence  denounces  narrowness  and  sectarian- 
ism. The  philosophy  he  inculcates  is  in  accord 
with  that  of  the  thirteenth  chapter,  "  it  thinketh  no 
evil."  It  significantly,  on  the  one  hand,  rebukes 
the  Protestant  who  denounces  Romanism  unquali- 
fiedly, by  pointing  out  her  good  works,  and  discrim- 
inating properly  between  perversions  developed  and 
wrestings  maliciously  devised;  arid  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Romanist  for  his  sweeping  denunciation 
of  Protestantism,  by  showing  that  the  policy  of 
Protestantism  toward  learning  and  freedom  is  based 
on  the  Rock  of  Ages.  Again,  it  rebukes  Protestant- 
ism because  in  her  own  family  the  daughters  differ 
in  the  theory  and  use  of  the  sacraments  and  cere- 
monies of  the  Church;  and  Romanism  again,  be- 
cause she  excommunicates  all  who  refuse  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  primacy  of  Peter;  and  the  Church  at 
large,  because  she  neglects  to  take  sisterly  notice  of 
other  religions,  especially  of  Judaism,  the  school- 
master that  brought  her  to  Christ;  because,  secure 
in  her  own  faith,  she  is  severe  on  the  doubting  and 
disbelieving,  admitting  the  worth  of  no  half-truths 
nor  half-virtues,  shutting  off  theism  and  pantheism 
abruptly — though  the  one  adoringly  seeks  to  re.move 
God  from  possible  contact  with  sin,  the  other  solac- 
ingly  to  bring  him  home  to  every  burdened  heart — 
haughtily  exclaiming  to  all,  Christ  or  nothing! 


220  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

This  doctrine  of  communism  leads  us  to  honor 
Christ,  by  acknowledging  his  presence  in  the  germ, 
flower,  and  fruit,  of  Christian  growth;  in  the  shrink- 
ing but  loving  woman  who  bathed  his  feet  with  her 
tears;  in  the  busy  Martha  and  contemplative  Mary; 
in  conservative  Thomas  and  aggressive  Peter;  in 
every  state  of  grace,  and  strength  of  faith,  finding 
something  to  admire  and  imitate,  causing  us  to 
reach  forth  the  hand  of  welcome,  and  utter  words 
of  greeting  to  all  who  "name  the  name  of  Christ." 
Christianity  knows  no  differences  of  race  or  color, 
no  forms  of  government,  civil  or  ecclesiastic,  as  pe- 
culiarly deserving  its  favor,  or  qualifying  for  a  mo- 
nopoly of  its  blessings.  "There  is  neither  Jew  nor 
Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is 
neither  male  nor  female;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ 
Jesus."  It  is  implied  in  the  doctrine  of  the  text 
that  nations  may  be  better  than  their  religions,  and 
that  Churches  may  be  orthodox  in  practice,  though 
heterodox  in  belief,  just  as  French  moralitj'  is  su- 
perior to  French  religion,  and  the  piety  of  the  Kirk 
of  Scotland  is  below  the  standard  of  the  catechism. 
Communism  obeys  the  injunction,  "  Prove  all  things, 
hold  fast  that  which  is  good;"  claims  the  theologies 
of  Christendom  as  ours;  and  that  we  can  no  more 
exhaust  the  truth  by  our  requisitions  than  the  air 
by  our  breathing;  that  it  is  common  property,  and 
if  divided  and  sequestered  we  have  the  warrant  of 
the  King  for  its  search  and  restoration  to  the  com- 
monwealth. Our  interest  in  the  truth  is  commen- 
surate with  our  desire,  and  as  attainable  as  our  ef- 
forts are  earnest.  It  is  not  to  be  carried  off  as  gold 


CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM.  221 

in  bags  to  the  loss  of  depositor  or  depositee.  Its 
method  of  communication  is  reciprocal.  Like  the 
duplex  interchange  of  messages  on  the  wire,  its 
giving  and  receiving  are  virtually  one.  As  the 
earth  draws  upon  the  sun  only  as  she  can  utilize  his 
light  and  heat,  so  truth  is  dependent  on  the  recep- 
tivity of  the  seeker  for  what  is  given  out,  and  the 
quality  of  its  display.  Christian  truth  is  a  possible 
universal  property,  for  it  is  the  most  needed  form  of 
knowledge,  and  is  self-generating. 

The  Church  is  unconsciously  and  slowly,  but 
steadily  and  surely,  rising  to  the  height  of  this 
argument  of  communism.  Here  and  there,  now 
and  then,  a  word  is  spoken,  or  a  work  done,  in  its 
furtherance.  Now  we  see  hints  of  closer  fraternity 
by  sects  of  the  same  creed,  but  of  sometime  variant 
usage;  now  a  call  for  an  evangelical,  now  an  ecu- 
menical, council.  In  the  fellowship  of  the  Spirit  we 
sing  the  classic  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  and  "  Jesus,  lover 
of  my  soul,"  little  caring  whether  Toplady  and 
Wesley  side  with  Calvin  or  Arminius,  and  pray  as 
expressive  of  thankfulness,  or  of  wants  unsupplied, 
in  a  common  language,  just  as  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty,  invoking  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
demonstrated  the  probability  of  a  common  tongue 
through  the  heavenly  motion  of  a  common  senti- 
menj.  The  Spirit  makes  us  free  and  one. 

Communism  leads  us  out  of  Christendom,  for 
Christianity,  which  it  seeks  to  spread  and  develop, 
is  not  exclusive.  It  visits  the  Ganges  as  well  as  the 
Jordan,  for  there  is  something  sacred  in  the  one 
locality  as  in  the  other,  for  Buddha  is  a  prophet  as 


222  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

well  as  John,  and  though  he  saw  not  "that  Light," 
yet  he  longed  for  its  illumination;  that  in  theVedaa 
and  Koran,  as  in  the  Bible,  there  are  truths,  buried 
it  may  be  in  a  matrix  of  error,  but  truths  giving 
promise  of  potency  which  the  Christian  philosopher 
slights  at  the  risk  of  dimming  the  brightness  of  his 
own  jewels;  for  honor  to  the  Master  is  interest  in 
men,  and  forgetfulness  of  men  is  a  slighting  of  God. 
"  By  unduly  depreciating  all  other  religions,"  says 
Max  Miiller,  "  we  have  placed  our  own  in  a  position 
which  its  Founder  never  intended  for  it;  we  have 
torn  it  away  from  the  sacred  context  of  the  history 
of  the  world  ;  we  have  ignored  or  willfully  narrowed 
'the  sundry  times  and  divers  manners'  in  which  in 
times  past  God  spake  unto  the  fathers  by  the  proph- 
ets, and  instead  of  recognizing  Christianity  as  com- 
ing in  the  fullness  of  time,  and  as  the  fulfillment  of 
the  hopes  and  desires  of  the  whole  world,  we  have 
brought  ourselves  to  look  upon  its  advent  as  the 
only  broken  link  in  that  unbroken  chain  which  is 
rightly  called  the  divine  government  of  the  world. 
Nay,  more  than  this,  there  are  people  who,  from 
mere  ignorance  of  the  ancient  religions  of  man- 
kind, have  adopted  a  doctrine  more  unchristian  than 
any  that  could  be  found  in  the  pages  of  the  religious 
books  of  antiquity,  viz.:  That  all  nations  of  the 
earth,  before  the  rise  of  Christianity,  were  mere 
outcasts,  forsaken  and  forgotten  of  their  Father  in 
heaven,  without  a  knowledge  of  God,  without  a 
hope  of  salvation." 

"The  world,  life,  and  things  present,  are  ours." 
The  blessings  of  our  religion  are  for  to-day  as  well 


CHRISTIAN    COMMUNISM.  223 

as  to-morrow.  We  do  not  forget  the  seriousness  of 
life,  our  dependence  on  our  Lord,  as  beneficiaries 
of  his  bounty,  as  subjects  of  his  grace;  but  he  no- 
where requires  us  to  repress  the  cheerful,  hopeful, 
joyous  elements  of  our  nature,  for  religion  is  for 
men.  Earth  is  as  much  our  home  now  as  heaven 
shall  be  hereafter.  Something  richer  hereafter, 
something  rich  now.  No  chancery  delays  to  keep 
us  out  of  possession  and  use:  prospective  increase, 
consummation,  but  no  break,  no  interregnum  of  dis- 
order, no  orphanage  or  widowhood,  no  isolation  or 
ostracism,  but  peaceful  occupancy  and  home-felt  joy. 
With  the  remembrance  of  the  intervening  curse, 
Christianity  repeats  the  declaration  of  the  Creator, 
that  the  earth  is  good — its  streams,  mountains,  for- 
ests, birds,  beasts,  men,  are  good,  and  that  whatever 
is  bad  is  of  the  enemy;  that  there  is  no  flower,  or 
fruit,  or  soil,  or  mineral,  or  living  creature,  but  may 
be  made  to  minister  to  man's  happiness  and  God's 
glory;  and  to  him  "who  hath  ears  to  hear"  there 
tomes  a  response  from  Nature  joyously  confessing 
God,  as  he  has  gladly  recognized  her: 

Tell  the  silent  sky, 

And  tell  the  stars,  and  tell  yon  rising  sun, 
Earth  with  her  thousand  voices  praises  God. 
God !  let  the  torrents  like  a  shout  of  nations 
Answer !  and  let  the  ice-plains  echo  God ! 
God!  sing,  ye  meadow-streams,  with  gladsome  voice, 
Ye  pine-groves,  with  your  soft  and  soul-like  sound. 
And  they  too  have  a  voice,  yon  piles  of  snow, 
And  in  their  perilous  fall  shall  thunder  God! 

But  this,  perhaps,  is  the  least  important  of  the 
lessons  of  the  passage.     With  a  purpose  of  rational 


224  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

indulgence,  the  Christian  life  floes  not  separate  us 
from  the  world;  for  in  trade,  it  is  not  buying  and 
selling,  but  "bulling"  and  "bearing,"  that  is  censur- 
able; in  business,  it  is  not  diligence,  but  dishonesty, 
that  is  denounced;  in  home  politics,  it  is  not  the 
advocacy  of  the  rights  of  the  people,  nor  even  the 
platform  of  a  party,  but  the  foisting  of  an  unworthy 
person  on  the  suffrages  of  the  citizens,  that  is  to  be 
condemned;  in  foreign  politics,  it  is  not  diplomacy, 
but  deceit,  that  is  reprehensible;  in  war,  it  is  not  so 
much  the  hot  blood  of  the  field,  as  the  bad  blood  of 
the  council-chamber  and  the  cabinet,  that  is  open  to 
the  criticism  of  the  Christian.  Among  the  pleasures, 
it  is  not  the  grace  of  the  dance,  but  the  "german" 
of  it,  that  is  sensuous;  it  is  not  the  smile  of  inno- 
cence, but  the  smirk  of  wantonness,  that  is  frowned 
at;  not  joyous  laughter,  but  such  as  suggests  the 
"crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot,"  that  is  ranked 
as  a  folly.  In  racing,  it  is  not  the  speed  and  bottom 
of  the  horse,  but  the  jockeying  and  gambling,  that  is 
vicious;  in  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  it  is  not  its  refresh- 
ing and  strengthening  properties,  but  its  epicurean 
and  excessive  indulgence,  that  constitutes  sin;  in 
society,  it  is  not  the  gleam  of  humor,  the  flash  of 
wit,  the  sparkle  of  repartee,  the  glance  of  affection, 
the  look  of  admiration,  but  the  coarse  mirth,  the 
unfeeling  sneer,  the  satiric  sting,  the  wily  coquetry, 
the  empty  adulation,  at  which  Christianity  shakes 
her  indignant  head.  No  inhibition  against  joy  or 
activity,  except  such  as  grows  out  of  our  weakness 
or  waywardness.  Charged  with  the  grace  of  Christ, 
the  heart  is  responsive  to  all  tokens  of  his  presence, 


CHRISTIAN    COMMUNISM.  225 

and  appropriative  of  all  communicable  good.  "  God 
giveth  us  richly  all  things  to  enjoy."  Christianity 
does  not  cloister  her  devotees ;  superstition  does  that. 
She  rather  invites  them  to  walk  through  the  marts 
of  business,  the  forum,  the  senate-chamber;  wher- 
ever men  "  most  do  congregate  "  she  would  introduce 
her  representatives,  for  her  concern  is  for  men  ;  and 
though  she  moves  a  queen  among  them,  she  mani- 
fests all  the  sympathy  of  a  sister,  keeping  her  gar- 
ments unspotted,  and  indicating  by  her  own  walk 
the  better  way  of  religion.  She  "renders  unto 
Caesar  the  things  that  be  Csesar's,"  and  thinks  it  no 
crime  to  discuss  his  policy;  it  is  only  exaggerated 
religiousness  that  does.  She  knows  full  well  that 
without  government  strong  and  stable,  the  things 
of  God  are  endangered,  and  that  without  the  bind- 
ing power  of  religion,  government  becomes  disor- 
ganized. She  takes  part  in  the  industrial  enter- 
prises of  the  day,  directly  or  indirectly  managing 
many  of  them.  She  invests  in  rails  and  engines,  in 
"wires  and  batteries,  encourages  the  tunneling  of  the 
Alps,  the  bridging  of  the  Mississippi,  advocates  the 
opening  of  Suez  and  Panama,  that  the  nations  may 
be  neighborly,  and  the  peoples  flow  together  like 
long-barred  oceans,  and  that  the  continents  of  hea- 
thendom may  come  to  Christ.  She  takes  stock  in 
the  learning  of  the  day  and  its  achievements — not 
simply  editing  the  Bible,  works  of  theology,  and  re- 
ligious journals,  but  supplying  authors  and  editors 
for  scientific  and  literary  treatises.  She  muddies  no 
stream  of  truth,  clogs  no  wheel  of  progress,  puts  no 
veto  on  investigation,  interdicts  no  work  of  litera- 
10* 


226  CHRISTIAN    COMMUNISM. 

ture,  lays  no  embargo  on  the  press.  If,  as  is  the 
fact,  an  expurgatorium  has  been  kept,  it  is  but 
charity  to  say  that  it  originated  in  a  misguided  zeal 
"for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  or  is 
chargeable  to  men  who  audaciously  arrogate  the 
vicarship  of  Christ. 

She  does  not  array  herself  against  science;  igno- 
rance does  that.  Her  energies  and  resources  are 
specially  devoted  to  the  science  of  religion,  but  as 
contributory  to  this  she  draws  from  all.  Strictly 
speaking,  she  is  no  specialist,  though  she  smiles  on 
specialists,  for  her  elective  instinct  conducts  her  to 
the  best.  The  illustration,  if  not  the  embodiment, 
of  many  sciences,  she  patronizes  them  all.  Hammer 
in  hand,  she  walks  over  the  earth  with  Lyell  and 
Miller,  taking  the  <' testimony  of  the  rocks,"  har- 
monizing geology  and  Genesis;  or,  with  Bopp  and 
Grimm,  cons  the  grammars  of  the  races,  that  phi- 
lology may  corroborate  the  ethnology  of  Paul,  that 
"  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for 
to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth."  She  accepts 
the  demonstrated,  though  her  cheek  mantle  at  the 
memory  of  the  now  historic  blunders  of  her  zealous 
but  sometimes  inconsiderate  adherents.  She  may 
not  be  able  at  all  times  to  demonstrate,  or  even  dis- 
cern, the  relations  of  the  several  sciences  to  herself, 
but  she  is  a  philosopher,  and  trusts  to  the  ultimate 
solution  of  the  revelations,  as  she  does  to  the  vindi- 
cation of  God,  for  God  is  truth. 

The  progress  of  religious  thought  and  sentiment, 
and  their  climax  of  influence  in  our  present  civili- 
zation, she  considers;  but,  that  she  may  estimate 


CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM.  227 

rightly  their  share  in  the  elevating  process,  she  con- 
siders also,  in  the  interest  of  her  chief  work,  the 
value  of  the  fine  arts.  She  exercises  not  merely 
her  taste,  but  her  godly  judgment,  in  choosing  from 
ancient  and  mediaeval  art  such  excellences  as  may 
be  promotive  of  refinement  and  worship,  holding 
surveillance  over  the  sensuous,  lest  in  her  love  for 
the  aesthetic  she  be  imposed  upon  by  that  which  is 
insidiously  harmful.  She  enters — for  nothing  for- 
bids, except  the  sour  severity  of  Puritanism — the 
galleries  of  paintings,  the  studios  of  sculpture,  the 
conservatories  of  music,  and  appropriates  whatever 
of  inspiration  or  suggestion  they  have  to  offer.  She 
does  not  hesitate  to  subsidize  the  genius  of  a  Mozart 
for  the  expression  of  praise,  admires  the  majesty 
of  the  "Moses,"  meditates  on  the  ennoblement  of 
womanhood  in  the  "Madonna,"  or  the  glorified  hu- 
manity in  the  "Transfiguration;"  but  since  God  is 
a  Spirit,  and  is  to  be  worshiped  in  spirit,  and  jealous 
of  the  displacement  of  heY  Christ,  she  refuses  them 
a  niche  in  the  house  of  his  worship. 

But  "the  world,  life,  and  things  present,"  are  ours 
specially,  because  the  present  is  the  only  time  when 
the  Christian  life  is  really  lived,  and  the  cross  glori- 
fied in  the  victories  of  its  followers  over  sin.  We 
are  invited  to  inspect  the  armory  of  Israel,  and 
make  requisition  for  what  is  needful  for  the  war- 
fare. "Other  men  labored,  and  we  are  entered  into 
their  labors."  We  stand  in  our  lot,  we  enter  on 
our  labors,  we  shirk  not  our  duty.  We  take  part 
in  the  enterprises  of  our  Zion,  we  build  up  her  walls, 
we  restore  her  waste-places,  we  go  up  against  her 


228  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

enemies,  we  contribute  to  her  resources,  we  pledge 
her  our  energies,  and  dedicate  ourselves  to  her  ser- 
vice. Under  the  charter  of  liberties,  as  laid  down 
by  the  apostle  in  Philippians,  "Whatsoever  things 
are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  honest,  whatsoever 
things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  what- 
soever things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of 
good  report — if  there  be  any  virtue,  and  if  there  be 
any  praise,  we  think  on  these  things,"  and  on  these 
things  act. 

We  come  now  to  solve  a  paradox  not  always  un- 
derstood by  the  regenerate,  and  never  by  the  unre- 
generate. 

"Death  and  things  to  come  are  ours."  If  it  re- 
quire some  consideration  to  induce  us  to  perceive 
that  "the  world,  life,  and  things  present,"  are  ours, 
much  more  in  this  case  shall  the  heart  hesitate  un- 
til the  eye  of  faith  scan  the  character  of  this  prop- 
erty, and  the  conditions  of  its  conferring  and  ac- 
ceptance. 

A  property?  Is  it  not  that  over  which  we  have 
control  for  our  advantage  as  against  contingent  dis- 
advantages? Death  bring  us  service?  Is  he  not 
the  universal  robber  rather?  A  friend?  Who  un- 
derstands him  as  such?  Has  he  not  defied  the  de- 
scriptive powers  of  pagan  and  Christian  poets,  and 
yet  remains,  not  the  riddle  of  the  sphinx,  but  the 
enigma  itself  of  the  universe?  Dreadful  in  the 
favoring  distance,  and  in  the  irrepressible  forebod- 
ings of  the  soul,  how  shall  we  endure  him  in  the 
horror  of  his  actual  presence?  Are  we  not  his  at 
the  meeting?  comes  he  not,  and  sees,  and  conquers? 


CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM.  229 

There  are  no  answers  to  these  race  questions  out- 
side the  gospel,  for  death  is  its  mystery  and  majesty 
too.  And  so  deaf  and  dull  are  we  that  not  always 
do  we  hear  the  oracles  distinctly,  nor  understand 
them  rightly.  To  some,  the  dread  of  death  vanishes 
as  ghosts  before  the  dawning  day,  for  to  them  the 
gospel  gives  forth  no  uncertain  sound;  with  others, 
fear  lingers  as  the  twilight  of  the  Arctic  regions, 
for  the  heart  is  yet  divided  in  its  trust.  "According 
to  our  faith,"  so  is  our  fear.  Christ's  victory  over 
death  shows  us  God.  No  wonder  the  resurrection, 
the  proof  of  the  victory,  was  the  theme  of  the 
apostles  and  early  preachers;  it  is  the  heart  of  the 
gospel.  If  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our  preach 
ing  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also  vain,  and  of  all  men 
we  are  most  miserable.  But  Christ  is  risen,  and 
Christians  are  of  all  men  most  blessed. 

Strong  Son  of  God,  immortal  love, 
Whom  we,  that  have  not  seen  thy  face, 
By  faith,  and  faith  alone,  embrace, 
Believing  where  we  cannot  prove; 
Thine  are  these  orbs  of  light  and  shade: 
Thou  madest  life  in  man  and  brute; 
Thou  madest  death ;  and  lo,  thy  foot 
Is  on  the  skull  which  thou  hast  made. 
Thou  wilt  not  leave  us  in  the  dust. 

What  Christ  hath  done  for  himself  he  hath  done 
for  us.  He  died,  that  we  may  live;  he  lives,  that 
we  may  die  in  assurance.  "  For  we  know  that  if  our 
earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we 
have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  He  who  cannot 
look  into  the  new  tomb  of  Joseph  and  believe,  has 


230  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

no  quieting  for  his  instinctive  fears  but  fatalism, 
and  fatalism  is  death. 

But  we  have  looked,  have  we  not?  and  believed; 
not,  perhaps,  with  the  eagerness  of  Peter :  we  may 
have  required  the  articulate  tests  of  Thomas;  but 
yet  we  believe,  and  are  going  on  to  believe  the 
more.  We  have  feared  death,  but  we  are  fearing 
him  less.  Our  faith  in  the  miracle  of  Christ's  death 
satisfies  us  with  the  mystery  of  our  own.  His  power 
over  death  is  our  power  over  life.  Needful  was  it 
for  Christ  to  die,  else  he  would  remain  unglorified; 
needful  for  us,  that  we  may  be  glorified  with  him. 
As  Christ  in  the  flesh  manifested  something  of  his 
divine  nature,  so  we  who  have  "known  him  in  the 
regeneration  "  manifest  something  of  the  Christly 
character,  and  that  supremacy  of  composure  which 
comes  with  the  new  life.  Really,  we  have  already 
entered  upon  our  heritage.  The  retroactive  power 
of  our  property  is  seen  in  our  wise  and  happy  ap- 
preciation of  the  "world,  life,  and  things  present." 
It  has  made  us  strong,  and  gentle,  and  true,  and 
loving;  for  the  great  issue  is  settled,  and  in  our 
favor.  The  relief  it  brings  fills  the  world  with 
beauty  and  gladness  for  us.  A  righted  judgment,  a 
wider  knowledge,  a  freedom  from  restraint,  a  con- 
scious at-homeness,  a  restored  soul,  an  insight  and 
security  as  to  the  uses  and  objects  of  life,  rob  death 
of  his  power  to  threaten  at  a  distance.  Nay,  this 
is  scarcely  different  from  the  dialect  of  the  uncon- 
verted. Death  is  to  us  a  Master  of  the  Rolls,  who 
issues  our  patent  of  nobility,  conducts  us  to  our 
manor,  and  will  in  due  time  introduce  us  to  the 


CHRISTIAN    COMMUNISM.  231 

King  and  his  court.  A  marvel  of  mercy  in  this  en- 
nobling graciousness  is,  that  the  disaffected  and  dis- 
loyal share  now  in  the  munificence  of  the  provision. 
The  security  of  civil  government,  the  sanctities  of 
home,  and  all  that  these  imply,  are  hought  with  a 
price  for  those  who  disregard,  if  they  do  not  disdain, 
the  sacrifice.  But  to  us  who  believe  Christ  is  pre- 
cious, and  his  work  paramount  —  bound  together 
by  the  sacrament  of  death,  but  death  robbed  of  his 
sting,  there  grows  up  among  us  a  oneness  of  senti- 
ment, a  holiness  of  joy,  a  peace  in  believing,  deep, 
settled,  prevailing. 

There  is  much  significance  in  the  record  of  Luke 
that,  after  the  resurrection,  but  while  the  miracle 
was  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  disciples,  and  the 
closing  proof  of  the  Messiahship  of  Christ  was  de- 
scending in  the  cloven  tongues  of  Pentecost,  "All 
that  believed  were  together,  and  had  all  things  com- 
mon; and  sold  their  possessions  and  goods,  and 
parted  them  to  all,  as  every  man  had  need."  The 
highest  spiritual  state  comes  of  assurance  of  power 
over  death,  and  makes  the  resultant  blessings  com- 
mon. This  is  "the  law  and  the  testimony."  The 
death  of  Christ  is  the  seal  and  sanction  of  Christian 
Communism. 

Prospecti vely  of  death  what  shall  we  say?  Casts 
it  a  shadow  athwart  the  hereafter?  and  does  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  deepen  and  descend  into 
Stygian  wave  and  darkness?  Not  for  us,  not  for  us! 
By  a  fiat  as  omnific  as  that  which  said,  "Let  there 
be  light,  and  there  was  light,"  the  gloom  of  the 
grave  has  been  kissed  into  gladness,  and  its  dark- 


232  CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM. 

ness  made  all  luminous  by  the  light  of  the  Sun  of 
righteousness.  Yet  scant  are  the  reports  of  the  in- 
heritance of  the  saints.  Moses  and  Elias  came  back 
for  a  moment  to  dazzle  us  with  their  garments  of 
light;  but  an  Eshcol  token  of  the  goodliness  of  the 
Canaan  is  ours.  Even  John,  as  we  have  seen,  when 
in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's-day,  chiefly  reveals  to  us 
the  objective  glories  of  heaven,  whatever  reserve, 
like  Paul,  he  may  have  made  of  "unspeakable 
words,  which  it  is  not  lawful  for  a  man  to  utter." 
He  speaks  as  inspired,  and  we  can  but  study  the 
attractive  but  unsatisfying  picture,  until,  from  the 
opulence  of  our  "faith,  hope,  and  charity,"  it  shall 
glow  in  the  soft  beauty  and  spiritual  home-likeness 
of  our  Father's  house,  secured  to  us  through  the 
sacrifice  of  his  First-born,  our  Elder  Brother.  We 
rest  on  the  coincident  and  cumulative  testimony  of 
David  and  John:  "I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake 
with  thy  likeness;"  and  "We  shall  be  like  him;  for 
we  shall  see  him  as  he  is." 

Our  Father,  however,  fetters  us  not  in  our  efforts 
to  rise  to  the  conception  of  the  blessedness  and  en- 
gagements of  the  heavenly  state.  As  the  angels, 
we  desire  to  look  into  the  "sufferings  of  Christ  and 
the  glory  that  shall  follow."  We  have  been  rapt  in 
the  Spirit;  have  gone  up  in  the  luminous  clouds 
of  contemplation;  have  breathed  the  high  air  of 
heaven ;  have  felt,  as  we  stood  before  the  throne,  the 
hush  of  reverence,  the  awe  of  majesty,  the  holiness 
of  the  sacrifice,  the  Godhead  of  the  Lamb.  What- 
ever may  be  the  engagements  of  the  unfallen  and 
redeemed  —  ministering  to  the  untranslated,  and 


CHRISTIAN   COMMUNISM.  233 

solving  the  delayed  problems  of  life,  or  in  carrying 
the  gospel  to  other  worlds,  and  the  projection  of 
new  and  godlike  enterprises — we  shall  share  them, 
and  share  them  in  the  vigor  of  conscious  capability; 
for  our  ignorances  no  longer  cramp  and  disqualify 
us,  the  mists  of  error  dissolve,  and  truth  stands  out 
in  the  bold  relief  of  the  everlasting  mountains. 
"  We  know  even  as  also  we  are  known."  The  su- 
pernal light  vivifies  and  deifies  our  intelligence. 
Verily,  "  now  are  we  as  gods,  knowing  good  and 
evil."  The  fell  work  of  the  deceiver  is  more  than 
met  by  our  walk  in  the  light  of  the  Lamb.  He 
shall  lead  us  through  the  courts  of  celestial  learning, 
and  all  the  desires  of  our  souls  to  know  and  to  do 
shall  be  satisfied.  "  We  follow  whithersoever  he 
leadeth." 

Our  sins  shall  shame  us  no  more;  we  are  washed 
from  them  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  are  made 
kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  his  Father;  and 
through  the  ages  he  shall  be  the  ever-present  me- 
morial of  our  interest,  and  guarantee  of  our  right 
to  the  blessedness  of  the  sanctified  and  the  saved. 
"One  faith,  one  Lord,  one  baptism,"  on  earth;  one 
joy,  one  throne,  one  salvation,  in  heaven. 


XIII. 

THE  INEQUALITIES  OF  LIFE,  AS  ILLUS- 
TRATING THE  WISDOM  AND  GOODNESS 
OF  GOD. 

BY  THE  EEV.  WHITEFOORD  SMITH,  D.D., 

South  Carolina  Conference. 

"  For  the  poor  shall  never  cease  out  of  the  land."  Deut. 
xv.  11. 

"For  ye  have  the  poor  always  with  you."     Matt.  xxvi.  11. 

MANY  of  the  evils  which  afflict  society  are  the  re- 
sult of  our  efforts  to  make  better  what  God  made 
good.  Not  satisfied  with  the  order  which  Infinite 
Wisdom  has  established,  men  have  vainly  imagined 
that  it  was  susceptible  of  improvement,  and  in  their 
endeavors  to  convert  a  system  of  beneficence  into 
what  they  conceive  would  be  a  system  of  optimism, 
"after  the  manner  of  the  giants,  they  have  warred 
against  the  laws  of  the  universe,  and  the  wisdom 
that  created  it." 

The  successive  disappointment  of  these  attempts 
has  not  deterred  from  their  repetition,  and  the  ex- 
ploded follies  of  one  generation  have  been  adopted 
by  another,  to  result  only  in  the  same  disappoint- 
ment and  mortification.  If  these  experiments  were 
harmless,  and  made  only  on  insensate  matter,  they 
might  be  the  subject  of  ridicule,  and  excite  but  a 

(234) 


THE    INEQUALITIES    OF    LIFE.  235 

smile  of  contempt  at  their  absurdity;  but  when 
they  disturb  the  relations  of  society,  and  introduce 
confusion  and  discord,  awakening  hopes  only  to  be 
disappointed,  and  promising  good  which  can  never 
be  attained,  they  are  too  serious  for  laughter,  and 
deserve  a  stern  denunciation. 

Conspicuous  among  these  vagaries  of  the  human 
mind  is  the  attempt  to  set  aside  the  immutable  law 
of  Nature  which  has  established  the  inequality  be- 
tween man  and  man.  Under  the  specious  guise 
of  philanthropy,  it  is  sought  to  establish,  not  what 
Heaven  ordained  a  law  of  universal  brotherhood, 
but — as  if  there  were  something  degrading  in  being 
a  younger  son — a  law  of  universal  primogeniture. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  the  glaring  absurdity 
of  such  a  proposition  would  carry  with  it  its  own 
confutation,  and  render  needless  any  reply;  yet  it  is 
not  less  true  than  surprising  that  many,  whose  in- 
telligence would  seem  to  place  them  beyond  the 
reach  of  deception,  have  been  beguiled  by  this  Uto- 
pian dream.  The  voice  of  Nature,  even  in  the  in- 
animate world,  declares  against  universal  equality. 
From  the  lowliest  shrub  to  the  stateliest  tree,  the 
law  of  inequality  prevails;  while,  by  the  beneficent 
provision  of  a  gracious  God,  each  in  its  place  sub- 
serves the  end  of  its  creation,  adorning  the  earth 
with  a  beautiful  variety,  and  administering  to  the 
gratification  and  happiness  of  man.  The  midnight 
heavens  proclaim — alike  to  the  infidel  astronomer 
and  to  the  believing  Christian  —  that  "one  star 
differeth  from  another  star  in  glory."  And  so  far 
as  it  has  pleased  the  Almighty  to  reveal  to  us  the 


236  THE   INEQUALITIES    OF   LIFE. 

secrets  of  the  invisible  world,  it  has  been  declared, 
"So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead." 

When  the  Israelites,  having  been  delivered  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  led  through  the  wilder- 
ness for  forty  years,  were  about  to  enter  upon  the 
possession  of  the  promised  Canaan,  Moses,  while 
directing  and  exhorting  them  to  the  duties  which 
would  insure  their  permanency  and  prosperity, 
uttered  the  remarkable  and  prophetic  declaration, 
'•'•The  poor  shall  never  cease  out  of  the  land!"  There 
might  seem  something  strange  in  such  a  declaration 
at  such  a  time.  Were  they  not  about  to  inherit  a 
land  of  promise,  lovely  for  situation,  salubrious  in 
its  climate,  and  fertile  in  its  productions?  And  was 
not  that  land,  for  plenty,  described  as  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey?  Was  it  not  about  to  be  divided 
to  their  tribes  and  families  according  to  the  princi- 
ples of  a  just  and  impartial  distribution?  And  was 
not  the  patrimony  of  every  man  to  be  secured  by  a 
homestead  law  which  rendered  it  inalienable,  so 
that  if  necessity  drove  him  to  sell,  he  might  redeem 
it  at  any  time,  and  if  unredeemed,  it  reverted  to 
him  or  his  family  at  the  year  of  jubilee?  How, 
then,  should  there  be  any  rich  or  any  poor  among 
this  people?  Whence  should  arise  those  inequali- 
ties which  should  clothe  one  in  purple  and  fine 
linen,  and  spread  for  him  a  sumptuous  table  every 
day,  while  another  should  be  in  rags,  a  beggar  at 
his  gate?  Was  this  peculiar  people,  under  a  the- 
ocracy, to  be  subject  to  the  same  contingencies  to 
which  all  other  people  were  liable?  Yes;  the  un- 
alterable law  of  Heaven,  decreed  as  well  in  kindness 


THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE.  237 

as  in  wisdom,  was  neither  to  be  abrogated  nor  sus- 
pended even  for  them;  the  inequalities  that  existed 
in  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs  should  exist  in  Judea 
under  David  and  Solomon ;  and  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  strong  and  the  weak,  the  wise  and  the 
ignorant,  the  master  and  the  servant,  should  be 
found  as  well  upon  the  banks  of  the  Jordan  as  by 
the  waters  of  the  Nile. 

And  when,  after  long  centuries,  the  Prophet  came 
of  whom  Moses  spake,  like  to  himself,  but  greater 
far  than  he,  he  confirmed  the  truth  of  the  ancient 
lawgiver's  words  when  he  said,  "  The  poor  ye  have 
always  with  you."  The  experience  of  every  age 
and  every  clime  attests  the  truth  of  the  divine  utter- 
ance; for  since  the  primeval  bankruptcy  in  Eden, 
when  the  wealth  of  innocence  and  the  divine  simili- 
tude were  lost,  where  have  not  the  poor,  beggared 
children  of  our  race  been  found,  wandering  in  the 
deserts,  or  crouching  under  the  shadows  of  the  rich 
man's  palace,  asking  for  sympathy  too  oft  denied, 
for  charity  too  oft  withheld?  Even  where  civiliza- 
tion and  refinement  most  prevail,  and  where  the 
sublime  teachings  of  Christianity  have  done  most 
to  mitigate  the  evils  of  our  fallen  condition,  the 
alms-house,  arid  the  orphan  asylum,  and  the  widow's 
home,  standing  beside  the  lofty  dwellings  where  the 
children  of  affluence  reside,  bear,  their  perpetual  and 
emphatic  testimony  to  the  truth,  "  The  poor  ye  have 
always  with  you." 

Shall  we  be  told  that  these  are  but  the  artificial 
distinctions  of  society?  that  they  are  no  part  of  the 
divine  economy,  but  an  infraction  of  the  great 


238     '  THE   INEQUALITIES   OF    LIFE. 

order  of  Heaven?  Why,  then,  let  us  ask,  have 
these  inequalities  in  wealth,  and  wit,  and  worth, 
been  always  found  among  all  people?  It  is  not 
alone  where  a  rank  civilization  has  fostered  an  un- 
natural growth  that  these  inequalities  are  found. 
On  the  contrary,  they  exist  everywhere.  The  In- 
dian acknowledges  for  his  chief  the  brave  whose 
strength  in  battle  has  won  the  victory  for  his  tribe, 
and  yields  a  superstitious  reverence  to  the  aged  seer 
whose  sagacity  and  experience  have  distinguished 
him  among  his  people.  The  inequality  between 
man  and  man  is  found  in  the  submission  rendered 
to  the  leader  of  the  robber-band,  and  of  the  pirate- 
crew,  as  well  as  in  the  honors  conferred  upon  the 
gifted  few  in  the  higher  ranks  of  civilized  society. 
It  is  seen  not  only  in  the  forum  and  the  senate-house, 
where  genius  wins  unfading  laurels,  but  also  in  the 
dungeon,  where  true  greatness  bears  with  dignity 
its  cruel  sufferings,  or  on  the  scaffold,  where  con- 
scious innocence  triumphs  over  the  doom  to  which 
tyranny  consigns  it. 

To  test  the  soundness  of  this  wild  conceit  of  uni- 
versal equality,  let  us  imagine  for  a  moment  the  ex- 
periment to  be  made.  Let  us  suppose  it  possible 
that,  on  a  given  day,  the  entire  wealth  of  a  nation 
should  be  divided, upon  principles  of  the  strictest 
justice,  impartiality,  and  equality,  among  all  its 
people.  How  long  could  this  condition  of  things 
remain  ?  How  many  disturbing  causes  would  oper- 
ate immediately  to  destroy  the  nicely-adjusted  bal- 
ance? The  skill  and  ingenuity  of  one  would  soon 
augment  his  share,  while  the  ignorance  and  thrift- 


THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE.  239 

lessness  of  another  would  make  him  the  victim  of 
his  more  crafty  neighbor.  The  ordinary  casualties 
of  life  would  deprive  one  of  the  ability  to  labor,  or 
a  protracted  and  wasting  sickness  would  utterly 
exhaust  his  means,  while  his  robust  and  healthy 
brother  would  be  rapidly  increasing  in  wealth.  The 
family  of  one  would  be  numerous  and  expensive, 
while  that  of  another  would  remain  unenlarged. 
The  father  of  one  family  would  be  taken  away  by 
death  in  the  midst  of  his  years,  and  a  widow,  per- 
haps feeble  and  sickly,  be  left  to  struggle  for  the 
support  of  numerous  children,  too  young  to  provide 
for  themselves.  What  principle  could  be  introduced 
into  this  system  to  prevent  or  correct  these  occur- 
rences, which  would  be  constantly  destroying  the 
desired  equality?  Would  you  rectify  the  aberration 
by  a  new  division  every  year?  Then  yon  remove 
every  incentive  to  industry;  for  no  man  would  labor 
only  to  distribute  the  fruits  of  his  toil  among  the 
unfortunate,  the  idle,  and  the  vicious. 

Nor  are  the  inequalities  of  life  confined  to  the 
circumstances  of  our  physical  condition.  They  are 
equally  apparent  in  all  that  relates  to  our  intellect- 
ual being.  Nearly  a  century  ago,  a  French  philos- 
opher advanced  the  theory  that  in  each  individual 
his  talents  and  his  virtues  are  not  the  effect  of  his 
organization,  but  of  the  education  he  receives.  In 
our  own  day,  precisely  the  reverse  of  this  has  been 
taught  by  those  phrenologists  who  have  found  all 
human  talents  and  virtues  located  in  the  several 
divisions  of  the  brain,  and,  by  an  examination  of 
the  head,  profess  to  tell  at  once  the  character  and 


240  THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE. 

future  history  of  the  man.  Thus  error  is  always 
found  oscillating  between  opposite  extremes,  while 
truth,  like  the  polar  star,  maintains  its  permanent 
and  unalterable  position.  Surely  the  mind  must  be 
blinded  by  prejudice  until  it  is  incapable  of  any  just 
perception  that  does  not  recognize  the  infinite  di- 
versity of  intellectual  gifts  with  which  the  Creator 
has  endowed  our  race! 

How  variously  diversified  are  the  intellectual  gifts 
of  men!  In  one,  the  fires  of  imagination  burn  with 
uncommon  luster,  and  burst  forth  in  the  highest 
displays  of  poetry  and  eloquence.  In  another,  the 
strong  powers  of  argumentation  or  reasoning  are 
displa37ed,  carrying  conviction  to  the  minds  of  the 
multitude.  In  one,  the  genius  for  music  displays 
itself,  and  listening  thousands  are  entranced  by  the 
sublime  oratorios  of  "Creation"  and  "The  Mes- 
siah; "  while  another,  investigating  the  profoundest 
truths  in  science  and  philosophy,  gives  to  the  world 
a  "Novum  Organ um,"  or  reveals  the  great  secrets 
which  for  ages  had  been  buried  in  the  bosom  of 
Nature.  And  will  it  be  pretended  that  all  these 
have  been  endowed  with  no  higher  gifts  than  the 
multitudes  among  whom  they  lived?  Why,  then, 
does  not  every  age  and  every  clime  boast  its  Demos- 
thenes and  its  Homer,  its  Shakespeare  and  its  Mil- 
ton, its  Plato  and  its  Aristotle,  its  Paley  and  its 
Whately,  its  Handel  and  its  Haydn,  its  Copernicus 
and  its  Galileo,  its  Bacon,  its  Newton,  and  its  Locke? 

Talk  of  mental  equality  as  a  law  of  the  human 
race!  The  school-boy,  who  witnesses  daily  the  tri- 
umphs of  genius  in  the  contests  of  the  school,  will 


THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE.  241 

give  the  lie  to  the  ridiculous  proposition.  How 
admirably  has  an  eloquent  writer  denounced  this 
absurd  hypothesis:  "Law!  if  the  whole  world  con- 
spired to  enforce  the  falsehood,  they  could  not  make 
it  law.  Level  all  conditions  to-day,  and  you  only 
smooth  away  all  obstacles  to  tyranny  to-morrow. 
A  nation  that  aspires  to  equality  is  unfit  for  freedom. 
Throughout  all  creation,  from  the  archangel  to  the 
worm,  from  Olympus  to  the  pebble,  from  the  radiant 
and  completed  planet  to  the  nebula  that  hardens 
through  ages  of  mist,  and  shines  into  the  habitable 

world,  the  first  law  of  Nature  is  inequality 

Ko;  while  the  world  lasts,  the  sun  will  gild  the 
mountain-top  before  it  shines  upon  the  plain.  Dif- 
fuse all  the  knowledge  the  earth  contains  over  all 
mankind  to-day,  and  some  men  will  be  wiser  than 
the  rest  to-morrow." 

Education  can,  doubtless,  do  much  to  lessen  the 
difference  between  mind  and  mind.  To  a  certain 
extent  it  can  arouse  the  imagination,  strengthen  the 
reason,  improve  the  judgment,  elevate  and  purify 
the  taste;  it  may  fit  a  man  to  move  with  ease  and 
grace  in  the  society  of  the  wise  and  learned,  but  it 
never  has  made,  and  never  can  make,  a  philosopher 
of  a  fool — a  Solomon  of  a  Rehoboam. 

They  who  have  studied  well  the  nature  of  man 
in  the  light  of  experience  have  been  constrained  to 
acknowledge  the  inequality  among  men  in  morals 
as  well  as  in  mind.  While  the  theologian  maintains 
that  all  are  fallen,  and  finds  no  exception  in  the 
race,  from  the  effects  of  the  primeval  sin,  he  will 
not  deny  the  differences  that  exist  between  the  ami- 
11 


242  THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE. 

able  and  the  morose,  the  gentle  and  the  turbulent, 
the  meek  and  the  passionate.  It  may  safely  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  influences  of  education  and  religion 
can  and  do  exert  a  larger  power  here  than  else- 
where. It  has  been  wisely  and  mercifully  arranged 
that  they  should,  for  however  little  the  true  happi- 
ness of  man  may  depend,  upon  his  fortune  or  his 
intelligence,  it  does  depend  upon  the  soundness  and 
purity  of  his  morals.  Yet  even  here  a  judicious 
observer  cannot  fail  to  notice  the  differences  that 
exist  even  among  those  who  are  acknowledged  to 
be  good  men.  The  homely  saying,  that  a  peck  of 
grace  will  go  farther  with  some  men  than  a  bushel 
with  others,  is  only  a  confession  of  the  natural  ine- 
quality which  marks  the  race.  That  parent  must 
have  been  unobservant  indeed  who  has  not  recog- 
nized this  great  law  as  manifesting  itself  among  his 
children  at  an  early  age,  when  the  gentlest  rebuke 
will  suffice  to  correct  an  evil  in  one  which  the  se- 
verest chastisement  will  scarcely  correct  in  another. 
Every  teacher,  too,  must  often  have  noticed  among 
his  pupils  the  different  effects  produced  upon  them 
by  his  appeals  to  their  sense  of  honor,  or  propriety, 
or  to  the  gentler  sympathies  of  their  nature. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  on  this  occasion  to  enter  at 
any  length  into  the  question  of  the  political  equality 
of  men.  Such  an  investigation,  properly  and  thor- 
oughly conducted,  would  require  more  time  and 
space  than  the  limits  of  this  discourse  will  allow. 
Perhaps  it  is  sufficient,  in  connection  with  this  ar- 
gument, to  say,  that  the  history  of  the  past,  as  well 
as  all  just  and  sound  views  of  government,  would 


THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE.  243 

exhibit  the  doctrine  to  be  as  wild  and  visionary  as 
any  other  phase  of  human  equality.  From  the  pa- 
triarch who  exercised  authority  over  his  family — 
from  Nlmrod,  who  sought  to  extend  that  authority 
into  the  rule  of  a  king,  and  became  a  hunter  of  men 
— down  through  the  ages  to  the  present  hour,  men 
have  been  subjected  to  the  government  of  their  fel- 
low-men. Whether  that  power  has  been  exercised 
jure  divino  or  jure  humano  —  whether  the  popular 
voice  has  called  to  the  throne,  or  the  right  to  do- 
minion has  been  founded  on  might,  in  all  ages,  and 
among  all  men,  savage  or  civilized,  political  inequal- 
ity has  existed  always  and  everywhere.  No  matter 
upon  what  principles  government  may  be  founded, 
whether  monarchical,  aristocratical,  or  republican, 
the  very  elevation  to  power  marks  the  inequality, 
and  places  man  over  man. 

They  tell  thee  in  their  dreaming  school 

Of  power  from  old  dominion  hurled, 
When  rich  and  poor,  with  juster  rule, 

Shall  share  the  altered  world. 
Alas  I  since  time  itself  began, 

That  fable  hath  but  fooled  the  hour: 
Each  age  that  ripens  power  in  man, 

But  subjects  man  to  power. 

But  why  multiply  illustrations  of  a  truth  which 
stands  out  conspicuously  written  on  every  page  of 
the  history  of  our  race?  a  truth  which  must  com- 
mend itself  to  every  mind  not  warped  by  prejudice, 
or  blinded  by  error?  A  far  more  grateful  task 
awaits  us,  to  contemplate  the  infinite  wisdom  and 
benevolence  evinced  in  this  seemingly  partial  ar- 
rangement, and  to  hush  into  silence  those  murmurs 


244  THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE. 

of  envy  and  discontent  which  this  eternal  law  of 
Nature  is  so  apt  to  excite. 

It  is  only  because  the  spectacle  never  has  been, 
and  never  can  be,  presented  to  our  sight,  or  because 
we  have  not  calmly  considered  what  the  effect  would 
be  if  it  were  possible,  that  we  do  not  realize  how 
great  a  curse  the  wished-for  equality  of  men  would 
be.  Let  us  endeavor  to  bring  the  matter  home  to 
our  minds  by  a  contemplation  of  such  a  state  of 
things  as  actually  existing.  Suppose,  then,  that  the 
Creator,  listening  to  the  repiuings  of  his  weak  and 
erring  children,  should  reverse  the  law  he  has  es- 
tablished, and  gratify  their  foolish  desires  by  making 
all  men  equal — equal  in  wisdom,  equal  in  goodness, 
equal  in  physical  strength,  and  equal  in  fortune. 
Suppose  an  angel  from  heaven  commissioned  to 
bring  to  our  world  the  intelligence  that  the  law  of 
human  inequality  was  abrogated — that  henceforth 
there  should  be  no  poor  in  the  land  to  utter  their 
plaintive  cries  and  supplicate  a  brother's  help — no 
rich  to  look  down  in  the  pride  of  their  opulence 
upon  their  poorer  brethren — no  weak  to  depend 
upon  the  aid  of  the  strong — no  strong  to  look  with 
pity  or  contempt  upon  the  feeble.  Let  the  procla- 
mation be  made,  as  the  fiat  of  the  Almighty,  "All 
men  are  equal."  Let  us  imagine  the  announcement 
received  witli  acclamations  of  joy  by  the  whole  fam- 
ily of  man,  as  the  inauguration  of  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  the  race,  perchance,  as  the  dawn  of  the 
long-expected  Millennium.  Methinks  no  band  of 
angel-rninstrels  would  hover  over  the  world  to  repeat 
the  song  they  sung  over  the  plains  of  Judea  long  cen- 


THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE.  245 

turies  ago, "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth 
peace,  good-will  toward  men."  O  no;  for  that  song 
proclaimed  a  birth  of  poverty,  and  celebrated  the 
swaddling-clothes,  the  stable,  and  the  manger.  But 
methinks,  rather,  the  loud  laughter  of  infernal  fiends 
would  be  heard,  as  they  contemplated  the  utter  ruin 
of  that  world,  for  the  master}'  of  which  they  had 
so  long  contended. 

What  would  be  the  first  effect  of  this  new  law  of 
universal  equality?  What,  but  the  independence 
of  every  man  upon  his  brother -man,  and  the  in- 
troduction of  the  most  complete  and  unmitigated 
selfishness?  The  bond  which  now  holds  society  to- 
gether, in  all  its  various  and  beautiful  relations,  is 
Sympathy.  Its  chords  are  struck  by  the  cry  of  dis- 
tress, from  whatever  source  it  comes,  and  the  appeal 
for  help  from  the  desolate  and  the  suffering  awak- 
ens the  noblest  sensibilities  of  the  heart.  O  blessed 
human  sympathy!  how  it  speaks  to  the  mother's 
heart  in  the  feeble  wail  of  her  dying  babe !  How 
it  weeps  with  those  who  weep, 

When,  sorrowing,  o'er  some  stone  they  bend, 
Which  covers  all  that  was  a  friend  1 

How  it  hears  the  faint  cry  of  the  famine-stricken, 
borne  across  the  great  sea,  and  vibrates  with  a  deep 
emotion  as  it  loads  its  ships  with  bread  for  the  per- 
ishing ! 

O  human  sympathy!  how  it  binds  up  the  bruises 
of  the  wounded,  and  speaks  the  words  of  comfort, 
and  recognizes  even  in  a  fallen  foe  a  brother-man! 
How  glorious  are  the  exhibitions  which  it  every- 
where presents,  binding  families  together  in  holy 


246  THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE. 

love,  maintaining  the  peace  of  States  and  nations, 
ministering  in  hovels  and  hospitals  where  wretch- 
edness may  be  relieved  and  vice  reformed!  What 
is  it  but  the  regulator  of  human  society — the  salt 
of  the  earth  which  preserves  society  from  moral 
putrefaction? 

But  the  establishment  of  universal  equality  would 
drive  it  from  the  world — there  would  be  none  to 
need  it,  there  would  be  none  to  give  it.  Universal 
equality  would  be  universal  selfishness.  And  what 
darker  doom  could  be  visited  upon  the  world  than 
to  give  it  over  to  the  dominancy  of  this  ungodlike 
passion?  Imagine  every  individual  of  our  race  cut 
loose  from  all  those  sympathies  which  now  bind  us 
together,  each  bent  only  on  what  he  thinks  will  ad- 
vance his  own  greatness  or  fortune,  and  determined 
to  pursue  his  own  interests  independent  of  all  around 
him.  Every  generous  impulse  of  nature  would  be 
destroyed,  and  the  spirit  of  selfishness  would  be  the 
prolific  mother  of  a  brood  of  evil  passions,  which 
would  make  every  man  an  Ishmaelite,  whose  hand 
would  be  against  his  fellow.  Where,  then,  would  be 
all  those  beautiful  relations  which  now  adorn  and 
sanctify  human  life?  In  the  present  constitution 
of  things,  there  is  none  so  rich,  or  so  exalted,  that  he 
is  independent  of  the  services  and  sympathies  of 
others.  The  rich  are  dependent  on  the  poor,  as  well 
as  the  poor  upon  the  rich.  What  the  genius  of  the 
wise  may  invent,  the  skill  and  strength  of  the  com- 
mon laborer  may  be  necessary  to  execute.  How  many 
alleviations  of  our  miseries  come  from  the  sympathy 
and  aid  of  the  weak?  It  was  the  little  captive 


THE   INEQUALITIES    OF    LIFE.  247 

handmaid  of  his  wife,  whose  pity,  on  beholding  the 
leprosy  of  Naaman,  suggested  the  prophet  in  Sama- 
ria as  the  healer  of  the  Syrian  captain.  And  the 
affectionate  remonstrances  of  his  servants  overcame 
his  proud  rage  when  he  scorned  the  direction  of  the 
prophet,  deeming  the  rivers  of  Abana  and  Pharpar 
better  than  all  the  waters  of  Israel. 

The  man  who  does  violence  to  this  great  law  of  our 
nature — the  law  of  universal  sympathy  and  depend- 
ence— who,  aiming  only  at  his  own  aggrandizement, 
seeks  to  live  to  himself  alone,  passes  through  life 
devoid  of  the  sweets  of  friendship,  and  descends  to 
the  grave,  "  unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung."  But 
he  whose  life  is  given  to  deeds  of  benevolence,  whose 
path  is  radiant  with  acts  of  noble  generosity,  is 
greeted  everywhere  as  the  friend  and  benefactor, 
lives  in  the  affections  of  those  whom  he  has  blessed, 
and  leaves  behind  him  a  name  embalmed  in  the 
hearts  of  men.  A  community  where  the  names  of 
friend  and  benefactor  are  unknown,  where  the  tear 
of  compassion  never  flows,  and  the  smile  of  grati- 
tude is  never  seen,  would  resemble  the  arid  desert, 
where  no  verdure  blooms,  no  gushing  fountain 
springs,  and  no  bird  of  morning  greets  the  traveler 
with  its  joyous  song. 

What  would  be  the  condition  of  society,  let  us 
ask,  if  there  were  no  intellectual  inequality  ?  "  Uni- 
versal equality  of  intelligence,  of  mind,  of  genius, 
of  virtue!  No  teacher  left  to  the  wrorld?  no  men 
wiser,  better  than  others?  Were  it  not  an  impossible 
condition,  what  a  hopeless  prospect  for  humanity! 
.  .  .  .  The  few  in  every  age  improve  the  many;  the 


248  THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE. 

many  now  may  be  as  wise  as  the  few  were,  but  im- 
provement is  at  a  stand-still  if  you  tell  me  that  the 

many  now  are  as  wise  as  the  few  are And  this 

is  not  a  harsh,  but  a  loving,  law — the  real  law  of 
improvement — the  wiser  the  few  in  one  generation, 
the  wiser  will  be  the  multitude  in  the  next." 

Will  not  these  observations  apply  with  equal 
force  to  those  moral  inequalities  that  meet  us  every- 
where? In  the  Scriptures  themselves  these  inequal- 
ities are  recognized  as  the  order  of  the  divine  ad- 
ministration. The  master,  who  was  leaving  his 
house  for  a  season,  intrusted  his  goods  to  his  serv- 
ants, not  upon  the  principle  of  an  equal  distribution, 
but  he  gave  to  one  five  talents,  to  another  two,  and 
to  another  one — to  every  man  according  to  his  sev- 
eral ability.  And  the  responsibility  of  each  was 
proportioned  to  his  endowments,  for  he  who  had 
improved  two  talents  was  commended  in  the  very 
same  words  with  which  he  was  applauded  who  had 
improved  five. 

The  world  is  to  be  instructed  and  elevated,  not 
by  precept  alone,  but  by  example  also.  Nothing  is 
more  encouraging  to  one  who  is  struggling  for  a 
higher  condition  in  virtue  than  to  see  that  condition 
made  attainable  by  the  examples  of  others  around 
him.  Without  such  incentive  he  might  willingly 
acknowledge  the  excellence  and  desirableness  of  the 
state,  but  yet  regard  it  ns  impracticable.  To  teach 
by  example  is  the  noblest  mode  of  instruction;  and 
He  who  alone  of  all  our  race  exhibited  the  perfec- 
tion of  every  virtue,  summed  up  the  essence  of  all 
his  lessons  in  one  injunction,  "Follow  Me"  But 


THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE.  249 

admit  the  theory  of  universal  equality,  and  there 
can  be  no  example  of  superior  virtue  to  excite  our 
emulation,  or  to  encourage  our  exertion.  Then 
the  value  of  history  as  philosophy  teaching  by  ex- 
ample is  lost;  for  why  commend  the  patience  and 
labor,  the  self-denial  and  perseverance,  the  generos- 
ity and  magnanimity,  the  benevolence  and  unselfish 
devotion  of  those  whose  names  are  illustrious  in  the 
calendar  of  patriots,  philosophers,  philanthropists, 
or  saints,  if  there  be  nothing  above  or  beyond  us  to 
which  we  can  attain? 

But  the  law  of  human  inequality  orders  other- 
wise. The  bright  examples  of  the  past  are  not  in 
vain.  Over  the  generations  that  follow  they  weave 
their  spell  and  wave  their  enchanted  wand.  The 
plains  of  Marathon,  and  the  bay  of  Salamis,  and 
the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  identified  as  they  are  with 
the  names  of  the  men  who  have  made  them  illus- 
trious, and  the  noble  deeds  of  which  they  have  been 
the  theater,  awaken  the  inspiration  of  patriotism, 
and  excite  a  holy  emulation  in  the  hearts  of  poster- 
ity. In  the  retirement  of  his  closet,  where  the  stu- 
dent toils  over  the  hardest  questions  of  science  and 
philosophy,  the  shadowy  forms  of  the  mighty,  who 
have  trod  this  path  before  him,  beckon  him  on,  and 
cheer  him  in  the  pursuit.  In  the  busy  struggle  of 
daily  common  life,  the  recollection  of  the  virtuous 
triumphs  of  predecessors  in  the  same  field  of  labor 
counteracts  the  weariness  of  the  conflict,  and  en- 
courages the  hope  of  similar  success.  Everywhere 
rise  up  the  forms  of  the  wise,  and  the  great,  and 
the  good,  animating  the  soul  to  persevering  effort, 
11* 


250  THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE. 

by  pointing  to  the  dangers  they  have  braved,  the 
obstacles  they  have  overcome,  and  the  laurels  they 
have  won. 

Is  it  hard  to  discover  the  benevolence  of  the 
Deity  in  this  arrangement  of  our  human  condition, 
"that  to  every  station  there  should  be  its  care — to 
every  man  his  burden?"  In  the  eloquent  words  of 
the  author  already  quoted,  "If  the  poor  did  not 
sometimes  so  far  feel  poverty  to  be  a  burden  as  to 
desire  to  better  their  condition,  and  (to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  the  world)  'seek  to  rise  in  life,'  their  most 
valuable  energies  would  never  be  aroused,  and  we 
should  not  witness  that  spectacle  which  is  so  com- 
mon in  the  land  we  live  in,  namely,  the  successful 
struggle  of  manly  labor  against  adverse  fortune — a 
struggle  in  which  the  triumph  of  one  gives  hope  to 
thousands.  .  .  .  If  all  men  were  equal,  if  there  were 
no  suffering  and  no  ease,  no  poverty  and  no  wealth, 
would  you  not  sweep  with  one  blow  the  half,  at 
least,  of  human  virtues  from  the  world?  If  there 
were  no  penury  and  no  pain,  what  would  become 
of  fortitude  ?  what  of  patience  ?  what  of  resignation  ? 
If  there  were  no  greatness  and  no  wealth,  what 
would  become  of  benevolence,  of  charity,  of  the 
blessed  human  pity,  of  temperance  in  the  midst  of 
luxury,  of  justice  in  the  exercise  of  power?  Carry 
the  question  farther:  grant  all  conditions  the  same 
— no  reverse,  no  rise  and  no  fall,  nothing  to  hope 
for,  and  nothing  to  fear — what  a  moral  death  you 
would  at  once  inflict  upon  all  the  energies  of  the 
soul!  and  what  a  link  between  the  heart  of  man 
and  the  providence  of  God  would  be  snapped 


TIIE    INEQUALITIES    OF    LIFE.  251 

asunder!  If  we  could  annihilate  evil,  we  should 
annihilate  hope,  and  hope  is  the  avenue  to  faith." 

Accept  these  inequalities  as  the  behest  of  Heaven, 
and  how  wide  the  field  for  the  exercise  of  every 
virtue!  and  how  rich  the  records  of  the  race  in 
these  sublime  achievements! 

How  palpable,  then,  are  the  great  moral  lessons 
which  this  condition  of  things  is  calculated  to  teach! 
Let  the  lowlier  children  of  our  race  in  poverty  and 
sorrow,  struggling  with  the  evils  of  their  hard  es- 
tate, remember  that  this  estate  is  not  one  of  their 
own  choice,  but  the  allotment  of  Infinite  Wisdom; 
that  the  Universal  Father,  who  has  assigned  them 
this  position  for  reasons  and  for  ends  they  cannot 
now  discern,  but  which  they  shall  fully  comprehend 
hereafter,  is  equally  pleased  with  their  patient  ac- 
ceptance of  his  will  as  he  is  with  the  obedience  and 
service  of  the  principalities  and  powers  in  the 
heavenly  places.  Discarding  the  envy  which  they 
may  be  tempted  to  indulge  toward  those  in  higher 
or  more  favored  positions,  let  them  learn  the  les- 
sons of  contentment  and  submission.  Forget  not, 
ye  children  of  want  and  misery,  that  the  fragrance 
of  the  lowly  violet  is  not  less  precious  than  that  of 
the  more  gorgeous  flower;  and  that  when  the  chill- 
ing blasts  of  winter  have  disrobed  the  roses  of  their 
glory,  the  humble  violet  still  blooms  in  beauty,  and 
regales  us  with  its  sweet  perfume. 

Let  the  rich  and  the  great  remember  the  uncer- 
tainty of  all  earthly  good,  and,  while  they  rejoice 
in  the  possessions  of  the  present,  forget  not  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  future.  The  times  in  which  we  are 


252  THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE. 

living  have  forcibly  illustrated  before  our  eyes  how 
frail  is  the  tenure  by  which  we  hold  our  earthly 
goods.  The  rich  of  to-day  may  be  the  poor  of  to- 
morrow. The  sovereign  who  feels  his  throne  secure, 
and  may  be  contemplating  still  larger  acquisitions  of 
territory,  that  he  may  leave  a  boundless  empire  to 
his  heir,  may  read  in  the  history  of  no  very  remote 
times  how  near  is  the  scaffold  to  the  palace,  or  how 
soon  the  scepter  of  power  may  be  exchanged,  for  the 
exile's  staff. 

Away,  then,  with  boastful  pride.  Let  the  rich  be 
clothed  with  humility.  Lay  to  heart  the  admoni- 
tion of  the  prophet,  "Let  not  the  wise  man  glory  in 
his  wisdom,  neither  let  the  mighty  man  glory  in  his 
might;  let  not  the  rich  man  glory  in  his  riches." 
There  is  one  terminus  to  all  the  inequalities  of  life, 
and  to  that  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  wise  and  the 
ignorant,  the  great  and  the  mean,  are  all  rapidly 
approaching.  There  is  but  one  true  leveler,  who 
effects  his  purpose,  not  by  elevating  the  humble  and 
abasing  the  proud,  but  by  laying  low  alike  all  the 
hopes  of  the  greatest  and  meanest  of  mankind.  The 
distinctions  of  life  are  swept  away  by  his  power, 
and  over  the  common  ruin  he  rears  the  memorial 
of  his  conquests.  Proudly  he  rebukes  the  restless 
ambition  which  frets  at  the  inequalities  of  life,  and 
asks: 

Can  monarchs  compass  aught  that  hails  their  sway, 

Or  call  with  truth  one  span  of  earth  their  own, 

Save  that  wherein  at  last  they  crumble  bone  by  bone? 

Let  us  not  forget  that  the  poor  are  the  representa- 
tives of  Christ  on  earth;  that  he  has  scattered  them 


THE   INEQUALITIES   OF    LIFE.  253 

through  all  the  lands  to  give  opportunity  to  those 
who  love  him  to  minister  to  their  wants,  and  that 
he  will  declare  in  that  day,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have 
done  it  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  have  done  it 
unto  me."  Surely,  if  there  he  any  thing  by  which 
our  nature  is  most  exalted,  and  in  which  we  may  be 
godlike,  it  is  in  the  noble  privilege  of  doing  good 
to  others,  of  being  the  benefactors  of  the  poor,  of 
emptying  ourselves  that*  we  may  enrich  others,  as 
He  who,  "though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  be- 
came poor,  that  we  through  his  poverty  might  be 
rich." 

There  is  yet  another  particular  which  vindicates 
the  wisdom  and  beneficence  of  this  divine  order  in 
the  affairs  of  men.  If  the  happiness  of  man  were 
dependent  upon  fortune,  or  power,  or  intelligence, 
then  indeed  there  might  seem  to  be  some  cause  of 
complaint  at  the  inequalities  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking.  But  the  law  of  compensation  seems  to 
be  commensurate  with  the  law  of  inequality.  If 
poverty  deprives  a  man  of  many  of  the  advantages 
which  wealth  confers,  it  also  exempts  him  from  its 
cares,  its  anxieties,  and  its  responsibilities.  If  a 
humble  position  in  life  debars  him  from  the  honors 
and  prerogatives  of  power,  it  saves  him  from  being 
the  object  of  envy  and  malignant  hate.  If  it  con- 
demns him  to  labor  and  to  toil,  it  blesses  him  with 
health,  and  brings  to  him  the  welcome  visits  of  re- 
freshing sleep.  If  it  denies  him  the  advantages  of 
high  mental  cultivation,  it  frees  him  from  a  thou- 
sand perplexing  doubts,  and  from  much  study,  which 
is  a  weariness  of  the  flesh.  For,  alas!  the  records 


254  THE    INEQUALITIES    OF   LIFE. 

of  our  race  are  but  too  replete  with  illustrations  of 
capacious  minds  wrecked  upon  the  dark  rocks  of 
infidelity  and  skepticism,  or  perishing  in  the  fires 
which  their  own  genius  had  enkindled. 

The  traveler  who  scales  the  summit  of  the  highest 
Alps  may  look  clown  for  a  moment  with  enthusias- 
tic delight  upon  the  world  beneath  him,  and  in  the 
temporary  delirium  forget  the  pains  and  perils  of  the 
ascent,  and  all  the  dangers»that  await  the  downward 
way;  but  the  humble  peasant  of  the  vale  below  may 
have  enjoyed  an  equal  feast,  where  Nature  smiled  in 
perpetual  verdure. 

He  who  takes  a  broad  and  philosophic  view  of 
men  in  all  the  various  departments  of  life,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with 
the  fact  that,  however  different  may  be  the  pursuits 
and  fortunes  of  men,  happiness  is  distributed  among 
them  with  a  wonderful  equality;  for,  while  the  poor 
may  often  feel  the  emotions  of  envy  arising  within 
them  when  they  witness  the  pomp  and  pageant  at- 
tendant upon  wealth,  it  is  equally  true  that  from  the 
pride  of  place  and  the  pinnacle  of  power  the  opulent 
and  the  mighty  look  down  with  envy  too  upon  the 
tranquil  enjoj'ments  of  the  poor.  Could  we  see 
into  the  hearts  of  men,  and  read  all  the  repinings 
that  are  written  there,  it  is  probable  that  this  uneasy 
feeling  of  discontent  would  be  found  as  often  among 
the  one  class  as  the  other.  It  is  not  wealth,  or  fame, 
or  power,  or  the  noble  gift  of  high  intelligence,  that 
brings  to  the  mind  that  sweet  content  and  cheerful- 
ness of  heart  that  constitute  what  the  world  calls 
happiness.  Alike  from  the  palace  and  the  hovel 


THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE.  255 

proceed  those  vain  regrets  and  murmu rings  against 
our  earthly  lot,  which  bear  a  constant  testimony  to 
the  dissatisfaction  and  restlessness  of  man.  It  is 
virtue  alone  —  virtue,  in  the  highest,  widest,  and 
noblest  acceptation  of  the  term,  embracing  all  the 
good  which  religion  teaches  and  enjoins — which  can 
still  these  wild  cries  of  discontent,  and  bring  to  the 
heart  the  blessed  solace  and  the  soothing  balm. 

For  not  with  natural  or  mental  wealth 
Is  God  delighted,  or  his  peace  secured; 
For  not  in  natural  or  mental  wealth 
Is  human  happiness  or  grandeur  found. 

If  we  confine  our  views  to  the  present  state  of 
man,  and  contemplate  him  only  in  reference  to  this 
life — if  we  divest  our  earthly  condition  of  all  its  re- 
lations to  the  eternal  future — if,  in  a  word,  we  shut 
our  eyes  to  the  immortality  which  religion  reveals, 
then  indeed  is  human  life,  with  all  its  varieties  and 
inequalities,  an  unsolved  and  inexplicable  enigma. 
"We  are  but  feathers  wafted  by  the  wind,  bubbles 
tossed  on  the  great  sea  of  life.  The  only  appropri- 
ate superscription  over  the  great  panorama  of  the 
world  would  be  the  bitter  expression  of  disappoint- 
ment and  regret,  "Vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit." 

But  when  life  is  viewed  in  the  light  of  its  con- 
nections with  another  and  an  endless  state  of  being, 
where  virtue  shall  receive  its  appropriate  reward, 
and  vice  shall  meet  its  just  condemnation — where 
these  rewards  shall  be  measured,  not  by  the  splendor 
which  may  have  shed  a  false  halo  around  the  act, 
but  by  the  motives  which  have  prompted  it,  and  the 


256  THE   INEQUALITIES    OF   LIFE. 

proportion  it  bore  to  the  ability  of  the  agent — where 
earth's  mightiest  and  most  renowned  shall  stand  re- 
vealed in  all  their  selfishness,  the  objects  of  disgust 
and  loathing,  while  the  humble  and  unknown,  who 
have  labored  only  for  the  good  of  others,  and  been 
the  ministers  of  mercy  to  the  suffering  of  their  race, 
shall  be  honored  as  the  truly  great — all  these  ine- 
qualities we  now  behold  are  but  little  mole-hills  on 
the  surface  of  society,  not  to  be  noticed  when  they 
are  past,  or  only  remembered  as  manhood  in  the 
fullness  of  its  intellectual  strength  remembers  the 
trifles  of  childhood  which  perplexed  its  feeble  pow- 
ers, or  disturbed  for  a  moment  its  infant  glee. 

If,  then,  at  any  time  the  scene  of  human  disap- 
pointment shall  tempt  us  to  adopt  the  beautiful  but 
sad  lines  of  Gray — 

Full  many  a  gem  of  purest  ray  serene 

The  dark,  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean  bear, 

Full  many  a  flower  is  born  to  blush  unseen, 
And  waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air — 

a  nobler  inspiration  shall  prompt  us  to  add, 

But  raised  by  power  divine,  each  gem  shall  shine; 

Each  flower  exhale  in  heaven  its  rich  perfume ; 
Each  owned  by  thee,  Eternal  Sire,  as  thine, 

Shall  with  effulgence  glow,  with  beauty  bloom. 

"We  may  indulge  in  the  pleasing  anticipation  of  a 
time  when  the  oppressions  of  tyranny  shall  cease 
throughout  the  world — when  the  tocsin  of  war  shall 
be  heard  no  more,  and  no  more  shall  be  seen  the 
garments  of  warriors  rolled  in  blood — when  the  re- 
pinings  of  discontent  shall  be  hushed  in  perpetual 
silence  —  when  the  gifts  of  genius  shall  never  be 


THE   INEQUALITIES   OF   LIFE.  257 

prostituted  to  the  service  of  licentiousness  and  sin, 
nor  the  lights  of  science  lead  into  the  mazes  of 
doubt  and  error — when  the  glorious  principles  of 
truth  and  virtue,  coming  forth  triumphant  from  the 
conflict  of  ages,  shall  assert  their  high-born  right  to 
universal  supremacy.  But  even  then,  in  the  bright 
millennial  reign,  the  blended  notes  of  the  high  and 
the  low,  of  the  rich  and  the  poor,  of  the  wise  and 
the  simple,  of  the  master  and  the  servant,  shall  still 
be  heard,  mingling  in  sweet  concord,  full  of  peace, 
and  exultant  hope,  and  everlasting  joy. 


XIV. 

THE  INTELLIGENCE  OF  FAITH. 

BY  THE  EEV.  T.  J.  DODD,  D.D., 

Vanderbilt  University. 

"At  thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net."     Luke  v.  5. 

THIS  act  of  casting  the  net  has  sometimes  been 
referred  to  as  an  instance  of  blind  faith  upon  the 
part  of  Peter.  A  blind  faith,  however,  is  a  thing 
which  has  no  existence.  "  The  eye  of  faith  "  and 
"  the  visions  of  faith  "  are  figures  which  had  never 
been  used  but  for  the  fact  that  faith  sees,  and  is  intel- 
ligent. There  is  a  faith  which  takes  God  at  his  word, 
believing  and  obeying  immediately,  without  hesita- 
tion or  objection;  but  this  is  really  the  most  intelli- 
gent faith  that  is  ever  exercised.  It  is  immediate, 
because  it  instantly  perceives  the  grounds  upon 
which  it  should  proceed,  and  acts  accordingly. 
Just  in  proportion  as  we  fail  to  perceive  these 
grounds  will  be  our  hesitation  either  to  accept 
the  promises,  or  to  obey  the  commandments,  of 
God. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  faith  without  a  reason. 
The  reasons  for  belief  may  be  very  different  for  dif- 
ferent individuals,  and  even  for  the  same  individual 
at  different  periods  of  his  life;  but  whenever  one  be- 
lieves, his  mind  must  act  in  consequence  of  that 

(258) 


THE  REV.  THOS.  J.  DODD'  D.D. 
Of  the  Kentucky  Conference. 


THE  INTELLIGENCE  OF  FAITH.         259 

which  appears  to  himself,  at  least,  to  be  a  sufficient 
reason.  The  little  child  believes  in  God  because  of 
his  confidence  in  the  superior  wisdom  of  those  who 
have  so  instructed  him,  just  as  the  Romanist,  for  a 
similar  reason,  accepts  with  full  confidence  many 
of  the  teachings  of  his  priesthood.  Most  of  the 
earlier  belief  of  us  all  arises  from  our  submission 
to  authority  recognized  as  the  source  and  standard 
of  our  faith.  There  is  a  time  when  we  are  perfectly 
satisfied  with  this,  and  our  belief  is  just  as  positive 
and  assured  as  if  resting  upon  the  best-ascertained 
facts  of  history  or  science,  or  as  if  settled  by  our- 
selves only  after  the  most  painstaking  and  impartial 
investigation.  As  we  advance,  however,  in  the  use 
of  our  intellectual  faculties,  and  realize  the  necessity 
of  having,  each  for  himself,  a  foundation  for  our 
faith,  we  throw  aside  the  influence  of  instruction  or 
authority,  and  seek  other  grounds  of  belief;  but, 
after  all,  we  attain  no  conclusions  more  satisfactory, 
or  more  reasonable,  than  at  the  time  was  the  sim- 
ple, confiding  faith  of  our  childhood.  Now,  in  the 
maturity  of  our  years,  we  read,  we  think,  we  travel, 
we  explore,  we  pile  fact  upon  fact,  and  we  have  our 
own  reasons  for  accepting  God  and  the  Bible;  yet 
these  are  no  more  reasons,  relatively,  than  was  the 
artless  recital  to  which  our  little  hearts  responded 
as  we  sat  upon  our  mother's  knee,  and  heard  her 
tell  of  God  and  Jesus. 

At  whatever  period  of  life,  whatever  the  degree 
of  our  intellectual  or  moral  culture,  and  in  whatso- 
ever realm  of  thought  or  knowledge,  if  we  believe 
at  all,  we  believe  for  a  reason;  and  this  is  saying  no 


260  THE   INTELLIGENCE   OF   FAITH. 

more  than  that  faith,  like  all  things  else,  must  have 
a  cause.  Nor  is  there  a  faith  opposed  or  contrary  to 
reason,  or  a  faith  that  is  above  reason.  If  we  do  not 
believe  without  a  reason,  much  less  can  we  when 
reason  is  against  us;  much  less,  again,  can  we  disre- 
gard reason,  forming  beliefs  in  a  realm  that  is  above  it 
— reason  entirely  out  of  view,  not  consulted,  ignored. 

In  saying  this,  we  do  not  mean  that  we  never  be- 
lieve that  in  which,  or  of  which,  we  do  not  perceive 
the  reasonableness;  in  other  words,  that  which  we 
cannot  comprehend.  We  are  compelled  to  believe 
in  thousands  of  instances  where  we  may  never  ex- 
pect to  understand.  Out  yonder  is  a  landscape — 
wide-spreading,  beautiful;  it  is  taken  in  by  the  eye, 
and  impressed  upon  the  retina;  we  believe  that  we 
behold  it  there,  pictured  like  a  painting  on  the  wall, 
and  we  also  believe  that  all  others  who  look  upon 
it  behold  the  very  same  thing;  yet  the  vision  itself 
no  man  can  comprehend.  We  cannot  understand 
the  omnipotence,  or  the  omnipresence,  or  the  self- 
existence,  of  our  God;  yet  we  find  not  the  least  diffi- 
culty in  believing  that  he  is  possessed  of  these  attri- 
butes. Just  so  in  regard  to  all  of  our  most  familiar 
and  most  dearly-cherished  beliefs — those  in  the  sim- 
plest equally  with  those  in  the  most  recondite  truths 
of  nature,  experience,  providence,  God. 

Right  here  we  may  determine,  to  some  extent, 
the  province  of  reason  in  its  relations  to  the  revealed 
word  of  God.  The  question,  here,  should  not  be  as 
to  the  reasonableness,  to  us,  of  the  contents  of  the 
book,  but  as  to  the  evidences  which  can  be  found  of 
its  being,  indeed,  a  divine  revelation.  Upon  this 


THE  INTELLIGENCE  OF  FAITH.         261 

point  we  are  to  satisfy  our  reason,  whatever  be  the 
kind  or  degree  of  the  argument  required.  To  say 
that  we  must  take  the  book  upon  faith  is  merely 
telling  us  that  we  must  believe  the  book  to  be  from 
God;  but  the  question  comes  up,  Why  so  believe? 

The  volume  accepted  as  of  God,  we  should  admit 
its  statements  in  whatever  light  they  may  appear  to 
us.  We  cannot  believe  that  God  would  utter  that 
which  is  either  untrue  or  unreasonable,  and  it  is 
highly  irrational  in  us  to  expect  to  understand  all 
things  in  the  divine  word,  while  there  is  such  an 
infinitude  of  things  about  us  in  daily  life  which  far 
transcend  our  comprehension,  but  which,  neverthe- 
less, we  must  accept  with  the  most  assured  convic- 
tion. 

As  regards  faith  in  the  promises,  and  obedience 
to  the  commands,  contained  in  the  book,  the  prov- 
ince of  reason  is  to  fix  the  meaning  of  these — not  to 
ascertain  the  grounds  upon  which  they  have  been 
based  of  God.  We  have  no  right  to  call  God  to  ac- 
count, and  ask  him  why  he  has  commanded  thus; 
nor  may  we  require  of  him  'how  he  can  verify  his 
promises  to  us.  Ours  is  to  obey  the  commands,  and 
to  trust  the  promises,  as  we  understand  them — not  as 
we  understand  the  divine  counsels  concerning  them. 
There  doubtless  are  many  instances  in  which  we 
think  we  can  see  the  grounds  of  the  divine  require- 
ments, and  the  means  by  which  God  accomplishes 
his  purposes  in  our  behalf;  but  these  are  not  proper 
subjects  of  inquiry  on  our  part — at  least,  of  such  in- 
quiry as  determines  to  relax  pursuit  only  when  a 
satisfactory  result  is  attained.  What  has  God  or- 


262         THE  INTELLIGENCE  OF  FAITH. 

dered?  what  promised?  what  does  he  mean  in  his 
revelations  to  the  world?  These  are  the  subjects 
upon  which  we  are  to  employ  our  reason ;  and  it  is 
thus  only,  assisted,  of  course,  by  the  Divine  Spirit, 
that  we  can  either  believe  or  obey  the  word  of  God. 
We  can  neither  trust  nor  obey  that  which,  in  this 
sense  at  least,  we  cannot  understand. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  an  unreasoning  faith. 
On  the  other  hand,  every  act  of  faith  is  the  result 
of  a  process  of  argument  in  all  regards  the  very 
same  as  takes  place  in  investigations  of  a  most 
strictly  scientific  character.  In  that  faith  which  is 
immediate,  we  do  not  perceive  the  successive  actions 
of  the  mind;  but  this  is  because  of  our  rapid  darting 
from  premises  to  the  conclusion.  There  are  courses 
of  reasoning  through  which  we  work  our  way  toil- 
somely and  slowly:  .we  are  distinctly  conscious  of 
every  mental  operation  involved,  because  we  have 
to  wreigh  evidence,  to  examine  the  bearings  of  prop- 
ositions and  fit  them  together,  as  it  were,  before  our 
minds  can  arrive  at  the  general  result.  This  is  usu- 
ally the  case  when  we  are  not  previously  familiar 
with  the  subject-matter  of  the  occasion,  or  entertain 
beliefs  opposed  to  the  conclusion  to  which  the  argu- 
ment would  conduct  us.  At  one  time  it  required 
labored  demonstration  to  convince  the  world  of  the 
revolution  of  the  planets;  but  let  a  new  planet  now 
be  discovered,  and  we  immediately  believe  that  it 
revolves  both  upon  its  axis  and  around  the  sun;  yet 
this  latter  belief  comes  from  a  process  of  ratiocina- 
tion as  real,  though  different  in  kind,  as  that  in  the 
former  belief,  accepted  only  after  years  of  painful 


THE   INTELLIGENCE    OF   FAITH.  263 

doubt  and  fearful  apprehension.  Were  one  wholly 
destitute  of  all  idea  of  God  to  receive,  for  the  first 
time,  instruction  upon  the  divine  existence,  attri- 
butes, and  providence,  we  may  readily  conceive  that 
much  time  might  elapse,  and  much  argumentation 
be  required,  to  induce  him  to  trust  His  promises  or 
order  his  life  by  the  precepts  of  His  law;  while  the 
man  who  has  long  known  God,  and  really  believed 
in  his  character  as  revealed,  trusts  and  obeys  with  a 
readiness  almost  equal  to  that  of  opening  the  eye 
to  sight  or  the  ear  to  hearing.  When  truths  have 
been  long  established  in  the  mind,  we  may  instant- 
ly perceive  their  logical  relations  when  brought  to- 
gether as  premises;  and  then  we  form  our  conclu- 
sions without  either  conscious  effort  or  conscious- 
ness of  time — just  as  the  light  shoots  across  the 
heavens  without  our  observing  its  pathway,  or  tak- 
ing note  of  the  duration  of  the  transit.  In  general, 
this  rapid,  unconscious  argumentation  makes  up  the 
greater  part  of  our  lives,  and  is  really  the  most  logi- 
xjal,  accurate,  and  reliable,  in  which  our  minds  are 
employed.  Let  any  thing  occur  which  checks  the 
mind  in  its  rush  from  the  premises  to  the  conclu- 
sion, and  we  very  clearly  perceive  the  process 
through  which  it  has  advanced.  When  there  is 
no  cause  for  apprehension  or  suspicion,  we  accept 
the  national  currency  without  in  the  least  consider- 
ing that  such  acceptance  is  the  result  of  an  argu- 
ment drawn  from  our  confidence  in  the  financial 
character  of  the  Government  and  the  genuineness 
of  the  bill;  but  let  suspicion  once  arise  as  to  either 
of  these  things:  then,  being  arrested  and  thrown 


264  THE   INTELLIGENCE   OF   FAITH. 

back  toward  a  consideration  of  the  honesty  or  abil- 
ity of  the  Government,  or  the  possibility  of  counter- 
feit in  the  currency,  we  immediately  see  that  a  regu- 
lar train  of  reasoning  must  take  place  before  the 
promissory  note  is  accepted  in  lieu  of  gold  or  silver. 
The  reasoning  is  of  the  very  same  nature,  when, 
without  check  or  hinderance,  the  mind,  with  a  single 
bound,  leaps  to  its  conclusions;  and  this  is  true 
whether  the  subject-matter  be  of  a  secular  or  relig- 
ious nature.  Every  act  of  faith  is  a  distinct  logical 
process. 

The  phrase,  unreasoning  faith,  is,  however,  perfect- 
ly allowable,  if  by  it  we  mean  the  faith  which  does  not 
object  to,  or  dispute  with,  the  word  of  God  understood 
as  such.  In  this  sense  Abraham  believed  and  obeyed 
with  an  unreasoning  faith;  so  Peter  in  the  history 
which  contains  our  text;  and  so  all  who  have  ex- 
hibited the  faith  that  pleases  God.  This  is  the  faith 
which  takes  God  at  his  word,  and  obeys  because  it  is 
his  word. 

The  faith  of  Peter  appears  to  have  been  blind  and 
unreasoning,  in  the  ordinary  use  of  the  terms,  (1) 
because  he  nowhere  seems  to  have  doubted  or  en- 
tered into  argument  with  Jesus  in  regard  to  the 
command  which  he  had  given,  and  (2)  because  it 
seems  to  have  been  a  faith  against  reason.  The  rea- 
son of  things,  the  nature  of  the  case,  appeared  to  be 
against  all  farther  eftbrt  at  fishing,  at  that  time  and 
place,  and,  accordingly,  the  fishermen  had  given  up 
their  enterprise,  and  were  preparing  to  rest  from 
their  labors.  But  if  we  look  a  little  more  closely 
at  the  transaction,  we  shall  see  that  reason  was  upon 


THE   INTELLIGENCE    OF   FAITH.  265 

the  side  of  Peter,  and  that  his  faith  was  the  direct 
result  of  an  argument  as  real  as  that  by  which  any 
conclusion  in  life  is  attained,  or  any  act  performed. 
No  one  would  suppose  that,  after  having  toiled  all 
night  and  taken  nothing,  Peter  would  have  heark- 
ened to  the  word  of  any  other  one  than  Jesus.  His 
reply,  most  probably,  would  have  been:  "Sir,  it 
is  useless  to  fish  here  any  longer;  we  are  going 
home!"  But  to  Jesus,  while  he  asserts  their  want 
of  success  so  far,  he  takes  a  second  thought:  "Nev- 
ertheless, at  thy  word,  I  will  let  down  the  net."  At 
thy  word.  We  see  here  exactly  how  Peter  reasoned 
upon  the  subject.  He  saw  clearly  what,  in  ordi- 
nary circumstances,  had  been  the  folly  of  regard- 
ing the  words  just  spoken;  on  the  other  hand,  he 
knew  Jesus  —  knew  his  character,  his  power,  wis- 
dom, loving-kindness — knew  that  in  every  command 
of  his  was  implied  power,  and  the  promise  of  suc- 
cessful obedience,  to  every  one  who  would  obey.  He 
knew  that  while  Nature  might  refuse  the  demands 
which  he  himself  might  make,  she  could  not  refuse 
to  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  Master.  Time  and 
again  Peter  had  seen  Nature  yield  immediate  obedi- 
ence to  the  word  of  Jesus.  In  his  own  little  village 
he  had  beheld  him,  with  a  word,  expel  an  unclean 
spirit,  so  that  the  spectators  cried  out,  amazed, 
"  What  a  word  is  this,  for  with  authority  and  power 
he  commandeth  the  unclean  spirits,  and  they  come 
out;" — in  his  own  humble  home  he  had  been  with 
Jesus,  when,  by  the  utterance  of  a  word,  his  wife's 
mother  was  healed  of  the  fever;  and  that  same  day, 
as  the  sun  was  setting,  he  had  seen  all  that  were  sick 
12 


266  THE   INTELLIGENCE   OF   FAITH. 

with  diverse  diseases  brought  forth  before  him,  and 
Jesus  had  restored  them  all.  Peter  thus  understood 
that  Jesus  was  the  Lord  of  Nature,  and  at  his  word 
was  ready  to  do  that  which,  but  for  such  knowl- 
edge, had  appeared  in  the  highest  degree  absurd. 
There  is  no  blindness  here  on  the  part  of  Peter,  no 
faith  without  reason,  no  faith  against  reason,  or 
without  reasoning;  the  faith  and  the  obedience  are, 
in  every  sense,  intelligent,  clear-sighted,  rational: 
not  to  have  believed  and  obeyed  had  been  blind,  ir- 
rational, insulting  to  reason. 

There  was  another  thing  that  assisted  Peter's  faith 
in  the  case  before  us.  He  desired  to  believe — belief 
lay  along  the  line  of  his  interests.  Generally,  we 
are  not  aware  to  how  great  a  degree  our  beliefs  are 
assisted  by  our  interests,  our  affections  and  desires. 
Arguments  which,  on  ordinary  occasions,  are  of  no 
weight  or  value  whatsoever,  present  themselves 
with  a  most  persuasive  eloquence  when  we  find  it 
greatly  to  our  advantage  to  become  convinced.  We 
may  now  understand  one  great  element,  perhaps  the 
distinguishing  element,  of  what  is  called  saving  faith 
in  Jesus;  it  is  the  interest  which  we  have  in  the 
matter  of  salvation — our  desire,  our  determination 
to  be  saved.  The  chief  reason  why  so  many  per- 
sons have  no  faith  at  all,  not  even  the  mere  histori- 
cal faith,  so  called,  is  that  they  have  no  desire  to 
believe,  and  oftentimes  their  determination  is  not 
to  believe,  in  Jesus.  Others  really  have  such  faith, 
believing  as  truly  as  any  of  us  the  great  doctrines 
of  Christ  and  his  salvation,  yet  are  conscious  to 
themselves  of  having  no  such  faith  as  saves  the  soul. 


THE   INTELLIGENCE   OF   FAITH.  267 

This  is  because,  though  believing  all  the  truths  of 
the  gospel,  they  are  almost  wholly  without  concern 
or  interest  as  regards  the  responsibilities  therein  in- 
volved. The  great  difference  between  those  who 
have  the  mere  intellectual  assent,  and  those  who 
believe  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  is  that  the  for- 
mer merely  believe,  while  the  latter  are  more  properly 
said  to  trust.  We  must  be  careful  not  to  confound 
these  two  acts  of  the  mind. 

One  may  believe  that  a  certain  enterprise,  dili- 
gently pursued,  will  conduct  to  ease,  wealth,  fame; 
but  he  cannot  be  said  to  trust  the  enterprise  so 
long  as  he  wholly  disregards  it,  and  devotes  his 
energies  to  a  different  one.  The  trust  comes  in 
only  when  we  desire,  seek,  determine,  act  in  the 
case.  The  devils  referred  to  by  St.  James  really 
believed,  as  did  likewise  those  indifferent  members 
of  the  Church  to  whom  the  apostle  wrote,  but  nei- 
ther the  one  nor  the  other  trusted,  because  they 
cared  not,  and  were  not  intent  upon  securing  to 
themselves  the  benefits  of  their  faith.  It  is  trust  in 
Jesus  which  brings  salvation,  because  the  sinner, 
awakened,  desiring  to  flee  from  wrath,  seeing  no 
help  in  himself,  no  help  in  his  fellow-man,  none  in 
ordinances  or  works  of  his  own,  throws  himself 
upon  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  as  his  only  but  all- 
sufficient  refuge.  He  that  merely  believes  will  never 
come  to  Jesus  a  penitent,  sin-smitten  soul :  he  that 
desires  release  from  sin,  and  resolves  that  eternal 
death  shall  not  become  his  doom  if  there  is  any 
possible  way  of  escape,  will  never  rest  in  mere  be- 
lief; he  will  determine  upon  eternal  life;  will  re- 


268  THE   INTELLIGENCE   OF   FAITH. 

pent;  will  renounce  his  sins;  will  cry  out,  "God 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner;"  he  will  seek  the 
promises  graciously  given;  he  will  find  peace  by 
trusting  in  the  Son  of  God. 

Is  this  faith  that  saves  any  the  less  intelligent 
than  that  which  merely  believes?  or  is  its  intelli- 
gence of  a  different  character  from  that  of  the  mere 
intellectual  assent?  Some  would  throw  the  matter 
of  faith  entirely  out  of  the  realm  of  our  intellectual 
powers  by  calling  it  the  belief  of  the  heart,  meaning 
thereby,  if  they  really  attach  any  definite  meaning 
to  the  phrase,  belief  of,  or  by,  the  emotional  nature. 
But  the  emotions  do  not  believe,  neither  can  the 
heart,  as  the  word  is  used  by  us  of  the  modern  day. 
Belief  is  the  action  of  the  heart,  as  the  term  is  em- 
ployed by  St.  Paul  when  he  declares  that  with  the 
heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness;  but  Paul, 
like  the  rest  of  the  Hebrews,  used  the  word  heart  in 
the  sense  in  which  we  employ  the  intellect,  mind,  rea- 
son, understanding.  This  meaning  of  the  term  we 
might  illustrate  by  numerous  references  to  the  Sa- 
cred Scriptures,  but  a  very  few  must  suffice:  "An 
heart  to  perceive " — Deut.  xxix.  4;  "The  heart  know- 
eth  "— Prov.  xiv.  10  ;  "  The  heart  of  the  rash  shall 
understand  knowledge" — Isa.  xxxii.  4;  "A  man's 
heart  deviseth  his  way" — Prov.  xvi.  9;  "Thou  shalt 
also  consider  in  thine  heart" — Deut.  yiii.  5;  "The 
former  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  into 
mind"  (heart) — Isa.  Ixv.  17;  "The  imagination  of 
man's  heart" — Gen.  viii.  21;  "Every  imagination  of 
the  thoughts  of  his  heart" — Gen.  vi.  5. 

Even  allowing  that  we  might  believe  by  the  emo- 


THE   INTELLIGENCE   OF   FAITH.  269 

tions  or  affections,  these  are  not  the  action  of 
the  heart,  as  we  understand  the  word,  for  this  can 
no  more  have  emotion  than  the  arm,  foot,  or  leg. 
There  are  certain  emotions  which  make  themselves 
felt  at  the  heart,  but  so  there  are  those  which  are 
felt  in  other  parts  of  the  body — in  the  knees,  for  in- 
stance, as  when  Belshazzar,  seeing  the  hand  writing 
upon  the  wall,  felt  the  joints  of  his  loins  loosed, 
and  his  knees  smiting  together,  but  no  one  would 
suppose  that  the  monarch's  knees  were  affrighted 
at  the  thought  of  the  impending  doom.  Emotion 
is  the  movement  of  the  mind,  and  in  no  sense  of  the 
heart,  unless  in  the  use  of  the  term  we,  like  the  an- 
cient Hebrews,  designate  all  the  powers  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  spiritual  man,  with  no  exclusive  or 
even  partial  reference  to  the  emotional  nature. 

In  this  we  are  not  saying  that  there  is  no  emo- 
tion attendant  upon  the  exercise  of  faith — that  trust 
which  saves  the  soul.  There  must  be  emotion 
both  antecedent  and  auxiliary  to  it,  and  it  is 
utterly  inconceivable  that  no  emotion  in  the  way 
of  joy  or  hope  should  arise  consequent  to  the  reali- 
zation of  its  power  upon  the  soul.  We  have  just 
endeavored  to  show  that  where  no  interest  or  de- 
sire is  felt — and  these  are  emotions — there  will  be 
no  coming  to  Christ;  and  when  one  does  trust,  in 
the  evangelical  sense  of  the  word,  it  is  because  of 
his  conviction  of  sin,  and  his  desire  of  pardon  and 
eternal  life.  There  can  be  no  religion  without  emo- 
tion— not  by  any  means,  necessarily,  emotion  dis- 
playing itself  by  any  particular  marks  or  demon- 
strations, but  emotion  in  the  sense  of  feeling — such 


270  THE   INTELLIGENCE    OF   FAITH. 

feeling  as  desire,  purpose,  hope,  love,  adoration,  joy. 
But  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  nevertheless,  that 
all  these  are  exercises  of  the  mind,  not  of  the  heart 
— of  the  very  same  mind  that  reasons,  thinks,  calcu- 
lates, forms  plans,  concludes.  When  God  requires 
of  us  the  heart,  he  means  the  entire  spiritual  nature, 
the  complete  manhood,  intellect,  reason,  judgment, 
understanding,  conscience,  imagination,  thought, 
purpose,  faith,  love. 

Let  us  here  remark  upon  several  terms  popular- 
ly used  to  express  the  religious  life  and  character — 
spiritual  religion,  religion  of  the  heart,  old-fashioned  re- 
ligion, scriptural  holiness,  and  others  of  like  import. 
These  phrases  may  develop,  each,  certain  distinctive 
aspects  or  features  of  the  religious  life,  yet  there  is 
really  but  one  kind  of  religion — that  which  has  just 
been  referred  to — by  whatsoever  name  it  rnay  be 
known  or  called.  If  one  has  religion,  in  the  very  na- 
ture of  things  it  must  be  a  spiritual  religion;  it  can- 
not consist  in  any  mere  bodily  sign,  movement,  or 
expression;  it  cannot  be  of  the  voice,  in  either  song 
or  shout,  nor  of  the  eye  in  tears;  it  must  likewise  be 
a  religion  of  the  heart,  comprehending  both  the  in- 
tellectual and  the  emotional  faculties  of  our  nature; 
it  must  be  an  old-fashioned  religion,  at  least  as  old 
as  Jesus,  Paul,  and  Peter,  as  old  as  David,  Moses, 
Enoch,  Seth,  Adam;  and  it  must  be  scriptural,  for 
we  know  of  no  other  religion  than  that  which  has 
been  taught  us  in  the  Scriptures  of  divine  truth. 
All  religion  is  summed  up  in  "Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul,  and  with  all  thy  might,"  and  "  Thou  shalt  love 


THE    INTELLIGENCE    OF   FAITH.  271 

thy  neighbor  as  thyself" — the  entire  manhood,  in 
all  its  powers,  consecrated  to  God. 

The  question  is  sometimes  asked  whether  we 
have  the  exercise  of  faith  under  our  own  control, 
the  idea  being  that  we  are  compelled  to  believe  or 
disbelieve,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  evidence 
brought  before  us.  We  have  no  hesitation  whatso- 
ever in  saying  that  every  man  may  either  accept  or 
reject  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  just  as  he  prefers  or  de- 
termines. It  cannot  be  that  God  has  required  us  to 
believe  in  Christ  at  the  peril  of  our  souls,  while  at 
the  same  time  he  has  failed  to  give  us  either  suf- 
ficient evidence  of  his  being  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  or  ability  properly  to  appreciate  the  evidence 
bestowed.  If  God  has  commanded  men  to  believe, 
he  has  certainly  given  evidence  upon  which  we  may 
found  belief,  and  likewise  the  power  so  to  employ 
the  evidence  that  we  may  arrive  at  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth.  This  is  not  saying  that  one  can,  by 
an  immediate  determination  or  resolve,  persuade 
himself  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  and  then,  by  an- 
other exercise  of  will,  attain  the  faith  which  is  ac- 
counted righteousness:  what  we  mean  is,  that  one, 
desiring  and  determining  to  believe,  may  put  him- 
self upon  a  course  of  inquiry  which  will  termi- 
nate in  the  desired  result.  Here  we  revert  to  our 
statement  that  our  beliefs  are  largely  dependent 
upon,  and  modified  by,  our  special  interests  and  af- 
fections. One  has  certainly  had  but  little  experi- 
ence of  his  reasoning  powers  not  to  have  perceived 
how  easily  he  may  feel  the  weight  of  evidence,  or  not 
feel  it  at  all,  according  to  his  predisposition  as  re- 


272         THE  INTELLIGENCE  OF  FAITH. 

gards  the  proposition  in  hand.  It  is  this  predispo- 
sition adhered  to  and  followed  out,  oftentimes  un- 
consciously, through  the  investigation,  which  large- 
ly accounts  for  the  great  variety  of  conclusions  to 
which  men  arrive  in  their  inquiries.  The  evidence 
is  the  same  as  presented  to  all,  but  far  is  it  from  be- 
ing the  same  as  perceived  by  all.  A  determination, 
or  even  a  little  preference  for  disbelief,  if  allowed 
to  influence  the  mind  while  weighing  evidence,  will 
almost  surely  conduct  to  a  rejection  of  that  which, 
but  for  such  preference,  or  with  preference  the  oth- 
er way,  had  been  admitted  among  the  most  positive 
convictions  of  the  mind.  How  natural  it  is  for  men 
w,ho  have  placed  certain  conclusions  before  them- 
selves, toward  which  they  are  going  to  argue,  to 
find  a  thousand  convincing  considerations  of  which 
their  opponents  had  never  dreamed;  while  these  lat- 
ter, on  the  other  hand,  draw  forth  just  as  many, 
and,  in  their  own  estimation,  far  more  convincing, 
in  support  of  their  denial  of  the  point  in  question; 
and,  at  the  close  of  the  strife,  each  party  withdraws 
more  firmly  set  in  their  previous  beliefs,  and  won- 
dering at  the  dullness  or  dishonesty  of  their  adver- 
saries. We  forbear  to  say  more  in  proof  of  the 
power  of  interest,  or  preconceived  result  in  the 
formation  of  our  beliefs.  We  think  our  statement 
will  be  accepted  by  all — that  we  have  never  known 
a  man  come  to  a  saving  faith  in  Jesus  while  his 
thoughts,  reasonings,  inclinations,  predilections, 
were  running  the  other  way;  nor  have  we  known 
one  to  fail  of  the  attainment  of  such  faith  who  has 
perseveringly  and  sincerely  sought  the  same. 


THE   INTELLIGENCE   OF   FAITH.  273 

There  are,  we  know,  numbers  who  inquire  into 
the  evidences  of  Christian  truth  who  never  come 
to  an  acceptance  of  it,  while  their  inquiry  is  fre- 
quently made  in  the  spirit  of  candor  and  impartial- 
ity; but  these  men  have  not  been  seeking  Jesus  so 
much  as  the  evidences  of  his  life  and  mission.  There 
is  a  broad  distinction  to  be  noted  here.  To  attempt 
to  know  the  truth  in  Jesus  by  investigating  the 
difficulties  of  the  Mosaic  record,  by  the  study  of 
protoplasm,  of  the  nebular  hypothesis,  or  the  mon- 
uments of  Egypt,  is  beginning  too  far  off — away 
out  in  the  darkness  and  the  cold.  Christ  himself 
is  the  light  of  men,  and  in  his  light  are  we  to 
see  light.  The  command  is,  Look  unto  me,  Come 
unto  me,  Call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord.  One 
may  not  believe,  but  let  him  call.  God  is  near;  his 
ear  is  open;  he  is  a  present  help:  Him  that  com- 
eth  unto  me,  I  will  in  nowise  cast  out.  What  one 
needs,  who  desires  to  believe,  is  repentance  of  sin, 
and  calling  upon  God  for  pardon.  This  is  the  way 
to  Jesus — the  shortest  way,  the  scriptural  way,  the 
only  sure  way — a  way  in  which  no  man  need  err. 

But  the  power  to  come  to  God  no  man  can  have 
until  he  comes,  starts,  or  resolves,  to  come.  He 
need  not  bewail  his  weakness;  he  need  not  call  for 
help  until  he  says,  I  will  arise,  I  will  go  to  Jesus — 
and  then!  there  is  no  weakness  then!  Arise,  take 
up  thy  bed,  and  the  man  arose.  He  did  not  parley; 
he  resolved  to  obey,  and  with  the  resolution  came 
the  power.  Stretch  forth  thy  hand,  and  he  stretched 
it  forth.  Ephphatha! — be  opened,  and  his  ears  were 
opened,  and  the  string  of  his  tongue  was  loosed,  and 
12* 


274  Till]   INTELLIGENCE    OF    FAITH. 

he  spoke  plain.  When  God  commands,  he  bestows 
the  grace,  if  one  will  obey;  when  Jesus  calls,  he  im- 
parts the  power,  if  one  will  only  come;  when  one 
cries,  Save,  Lord,  I  perish,  the  Hand  that  made  the 
worlds  is  extended  to  bear  him  up. 

Faith  is  not  a  mere  arbitrary  appointment  of  God 
as  the  condition  of  our  salvation.  The  reasonable- 
ness of  it  is  seen  in  the  fact  that,  in  matters  of  this 
present  life,  it  is  the  great  bond  of  union  between 
man  and  man — the  great  agency,  or  power,  by  which 
almost  all  of  our  interests  are  subserved.  It  is  by 
faith  in  our  fellow-man,  by  faith  in  the  working  of 
natural  law,  and  in  the  general  connections  of  cause 
and  effect,  that  all  the  departments  of  business  are 
conducted,  and  all  the  varied  enjoyments  of  social 
and  domestic  life  experienced.  In  ordaining,  then, 
that  the  just  should  live  by  faith,  and  that  by 
faith  we  should  be  first  inducted  into  the  hopes  and 
privileges  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  God  required 
of  the  world  the  exercise  of  no  new  faculty,  nor  any 
new  method  in  the  exercise  of  a  faculty  long  since 
known;  he  only  required  that  a  power,  familiarly 
used  in  matters  of  the  secular  life,  should  be  em- 
ployed in  the  interests  of  the  life  to  come — that  he 
himself,  through  Christ,  should  be  made  the  great 
object  of  trust,  and  that  the  all-prevailing  sacrifice 
of  Jesus — not  any  so-called  righteousness  of  men — 
should  be  looked  to  as  the  ground  of  our  salvation. 

Faith,  therefore,  is  the  means  by  which  we  enter 
and  continue  the  service  of  God,  as  well  as  the  con- 
dition upon  which  Christ's  death  is  made  available 
to  us.  It  must,  consequently,  be  regarded,  not  as 


T1IE   INTELLIGENCE   OF   FAITH.  275 

an  end  toward  which  we  are  to  aspire,  but  as  an 
agency  by  which,  once  admitted  into  the  household 
of  God,  we  are  to  abide  dutiful  servants  and  loving 
sons,  ever  accomplishing  the  will  of  the  Father  in 
the  use  of  all  our  powers  to  the  glory  of  His  name. 
It  is  not  the  consummation,  but  the  beginning  and 
the  instrument,  of  the  Christian  life.  Hence,  we  are 
exhorted  to  leave  the  principles  of  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  not  laying  again  the  foundation  of  repent- 
ance from  dead  works,  and  of  faith  toward  God,  and 
to  go  on  to  perfection!  Whatever  perfection  here 
may  mean,  it  means  advancement,  growth,  develop- 
ment, ascent;  height  on  height,  Alp  upon  Alp,  the 
Christian  character  rises  high  above  any  elevation 
we  have  thus  far  attained.  Let  us  not  yet  count 
ourselves  to  have  apprehended;  forgetting  those 
things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto 
those  things  which  are  before,  may  we  press  to- 
ward the  mark  for  the  prize  far  on,  ahead  and 
above!  We  have  every  assurance  that,  by  grace, 
through  faith,  we  may  make  an  ever-onward  prog- 
ress. The  entire  eleventh  chapter  to  the  Hebrews 
is  a  bright  array  of  the  triumphs,  by  faith,  of  those 
who  have  gone  before  us,  and  the  twelfth  opens  by 
exhorting  us  to  lives  of  like  earnest,  energetic,  lofty 
achievement,  in  the  service  of  God:  "Compassed 
about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,"  testify- 
ing the  power  which  they,  under  God,  had  wielded 
in  his  cause,  let  us  be  confident,  hopeful,  bold,  de- 
termined. 

The  cloud  of  witnesses!  how  sublime!  how  in- 
spiring the  conception !    The  long  roll  of  the  sainted 


276  THE   INTELLIGENCE    OF   FAITH. 

dead  pressing  round  us,  giving  testimony  to  what 
they  had  severally  done  through  faith !  Abel — that 
through  faith  he  had  offered  the  sacrifice  by  which 
no  obtained  witness  that  he  was  righteous;  Enoch 
— that  by  faith  he  had  been  translated,  that  he 
should  not  see  death;  Noah — that  by  faith  he  had 
prepared  the  ark,  saved  the  race  from  annihilation, 
and  become  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  by 
faith ;  Abraham,  Sarah,  Jacob,  Moses,  Gedeon,  Ba- 
rak, Samson,  Jephthae,  David,  Samuel,  the  proph- 
ets— that  through  faith  they  had  subdued  kingdoms, 
wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped 
the  mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire, 
escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword,  out  of  weakness 
were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned 
to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens! 

Compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  wit- 
nesses, and  their  testimony  sounding  in  our  ears, 
shame  upon  us  if  we  halt  or  falter  in  our  course! 
Let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  lift  up  the  hands 
which  hang  down  and  the  feeble  knees,  make 
straight  paths  for  our  feet,  and  look  to  Jesus.  He 
is  the  author  and  the  finisher  of  our  faith,  and  to 
us  is  secured,  through  him,  all  needed  grace  and 
strength,  for  we  are  complete  in  him — the  Head  of 
all  principality  and  power.  Rooted,  and  built  up, 
and  stablished  in  the  faith — the  word  of  Christ 
dwelling  in  us  richly  in  all  wisdom — we  seek  those 
things  which  are  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the 
right-hand  of  God.  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life, 
shall  appear,  then  shall  we  also  appear  with  him  in 
glory. 


FAITH  IN  CHRIST. 

BY  BISHOP  PAINE. 

"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled :  ye  believe  in  God,  believe 
also  in  me."  John  xiv.  1. 

THE  whole  history  of  our  Lord  is  full  of  sublime 
incidents.  Wonders  crowded  his  life,  presaging 
and  accompanying  his  birth,  and  crowning  his  death 
with  demonstrations  of  his  divinity.  The  circum- 
stances under  which  he  used  the  language  of  the 
text  impart  to  it  a  specially  impressive  significance. 
It  was  on  the  night  of  his  betrayal,  and  between  the 
institution  of  the  Eucharist  and  his  mysterious  ag- 
ony  in  Gethsemane.  It  was  the  beginning  of  his 
maledictory  to  his  disciples,  who  were  soon  to  be  be- 
reaved by  his  death,  uttered  in  tones  of  tenderest 
afiection,  yet  enjoining  a  duty  which,  to  them,  and 
to  all  men  to  the  end  of  time,  is  conditional  of  sal- 
vation. 

Foretold  by  prophecies  which  pointed  to  this  pe- 
riod, and  to  the  place  and  circumstances  of  his  ad- 
vent, and  described  with  wonderful  minuteness  his 
person,  his  offices,  and  the  leading  incidents  in  the 
history  of  a  life  that  never  had  a  parallel,  the  ma- 
jority of  the  Jews  had  been  ready  to  come  by  force 
and  make  him  their  King.  They  recognized  in  him 

(277) 


278  FAITH    IN   CHRIST. 

the  realization  of  their  ideal,  the  great  Antitype  of 
the  signs  and  symbols  hitherto  veiled  by  gorgeous 
ceremonies  and  obscure  rites,  the  complement  of  a 
thousand  apparently  incongruous  parts  lying  (as  the 
disjecta  membra  of  prophetic  conceptions)  all  along 
the  line  of  their  inspired  books  and  daily  ceremo- 
nies. In  him,  and  him  only,  all  these  seemingly 
incompatible  parts  united  to  form  an  harmonious, 
grand,  and  all-perfect  character.  But  alas!  while 
"  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly,"  and,  prompt- 
ed both  by  patriotism  and  piety,  were  anxious  to 
hail  him  a  lineal  descendant  of  David,  and  heir  to 
the  Messianic  throne,  yet,  misled  by  their  ecclesi- 
astical rulers,  and  deterred  by  the  iron  despotism 
of  Rome,  the  popular  enthusiasm  subsided,  and 
Christ's  enemies  were  now  determined  and  united. 

The  tribes  had  assembled  to  celebrate  their  greatest 
national  feast.  The  recent  raising  of  Lazarus  from 
his  grave  within  two  miles  of  Jerusalem,  followed 
by  his  arrival  with  his  disciples  at  the  house  of  the 
newly-raised  man,  had  stirred  the  hearts  and  con- 
centrated the  attention  of  all.  The  crisis  had  come. 
Impelled  by  curiosity,  and  stimulated  by  hopes 
founded  on  prophecies,  through  the  gates  of  the 
city,  and  from  the  thousand  tents  which  dotted  the 
valleys  and  hill-tops  about  Jerusalem,  a  living  stream 
was  moving  toward  Bethany  to  see  the  man  who 
had  been  dead  four  days,  and  the  more  than  man 
who  held  the  keys  that  unlocked  the  hitherto  im- 
pregnable gates  of  death  and  hell. 

Who  is  he?  where  is  he?  will  he  come  to  the 
feast?  were  on  every  lip,  from  the  Sanhedrim  to  the 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  279 

dwellers  in  the  mountains  of  Lebanon  and  the  des- 
ert of  Gaza.  The  company  from  Bethany,  head- 
ed by  Jesus,  and  accompanied  by  Lazarus,  Barti- 
mens,  and  others  who  had  joined  the  little  band  of 
his  disciples,  met  the  surging  throng,  and,  after  a 
pause  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Olivet,  slowly  swept 
down  to  the  eastern  gate,  amid  the  shouts  of  thou- 
sands, in  which  the  clear,  sweet  voices  of  innocent 
children  mingled,  bearing  into  the  holy  temple 
the  "King  of  Israel,"  the  "Son  and  the  Lord  of 
.David."  Assuming  the  office,  he  at  once  exercised 
the  authority  of  King  of  Zion,  by  exposing  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  hierarchy,  expelling  by  force  the  mer- 
cenaries who  infested  the  temple,  and  proclaiming 
the  subjects  and  laws  of  the  mediatorial  kingdom. 
He  had  accepted  the  position,  and  no  longer  post- 
pones the  trial;  but,  the  time  having  fully  come,  he 
moves  to  the  front  to  meet  the  momentous  issues 
involving  the  interests  of  heaven,  earth,  and  hell. 

Twice  afterward  did  our  blessed  Lord  seem  to 
shudder  and  draw  back  for  awhile  from  the  fierce 
and  terrible  ordeal — once,  late  in  the  night,  after 
our  text  had  been  spoken,  the  night  of  betrayal  and 
blasphemy,  when,  alone  in  grief  and  agony  incon- 
ceivable, he  had  thrice  uttered  those  words  which 
no  man  should  ever  hear  without  shame  and  awe — 
"  Father,  let  this  cup  pass,  if  it  be  possible ; "  but 
that  involuntary  outburst  of  grief  and  prayer  hav- 
ing been  answered  of  his  Father  by  the  strengthen- 
ing presence  of  an  angel,  the  sufferer  at  once  became 
calm,  and,  rising  up,  went  forth  to  meet  the  conspir- 
ators, saying,  "Thy  will  be  done."  Again,  at  the 


280  FAITH    IN    CHRIST. 

memorable  ninth  hour  of  the  day,  when,  after  a 
night  of  unparalleled  horrors,  tried,  rejected,  insult- 
ed, condemned,  crucified — having  hung  three  hours 
on  the  cross  in  such  bitter  agonies  as  only  his  pure 
and  sensitive  soul  could  feel  under  the  burden  of  the 
sins  of  the  world — he  was  forced  to  confess  him- 
self forsaken  by  his  Father:  "My  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  To  this  appeal  no 
strengthening  angel  nor  assuring  answer  came;  but 
the  sky  grew  darker;  the  vail  of  the  temple  was 
rent;  an  earthquake  shook  the  frame- work  of  the 
globe;  rocks  burst  asunder,  and  graves  yawned. 
Amidst  all  these  scenes,  and  notwithstanding  these 
portents,  the  brave  and  still  confiding  Son  exclaimed, 
"Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit!" 
and,  bowing  his  bleeding,  thof n-crowned  head,  gave 
up  the  ghost. 

O  Lamb  of  God,  was  ever  pain, 
Was  ever  love,  like  thine! 

No;  Christ  could  not  withdraw  from  the  conflict 
— or,  if  ever  it  might  seem  to  have  been  possible, 
certainly  not  after  he  had  "  come  up  openly  to  the 
Passover."  He  had  committed  himself  and  his 
helpless  followers,  and  put  himself  and  them  in  the 
power  of  his  foes.  Henceforth  every  thing  rapidly 
converges  to  the  great  end.  Foreseeing  all  the 
scenes  in  the  progress  of  this  drama,  and  submit- 
ting to  endure  them  not  the  less  willingly  because 
he  foreknew  them  all,  the  meek  and  blessed  Prince 
of  Peace  seeks  to  counterplot  their  diabolical  aims 
by  inspiring  and  arming  his  followers  by  his  last 
address.  It  was  all  that  he  could  now  do,  and  what 


FAITH    IN    CHRIST.  281 

he  only  could  do.  "Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled: 
ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me."  How  appro- 
priate to  the  condition  and  circumstances  was  the 
theme!  There  were  troubled  hearts  in  that  room 
"on  that  dark  and  doleful  night."  The  sudden  re- 
treat of  Judas  after  he  received  the  sop,  and  heard 
the  significant  admonition,  uttered  in  tones  inau- 
dible to  the  other  disciples,  "  What  thou  doest  do 
quickly,"  followed  by  the  rebuke  to  self-reliant  Pe- 
ter, and  the  prediction  of  his  denial  of  the  Master 
before  the  third  crowing  of  the  cock,  must  have 
troubled  and  startled  them  all.  No  wonder  the  dis- 
ciples "  looked  upon  one  another  "  in  alarm.  A  wolf 
in  the  fold!  To  add  to  this,  and  worse  than  this, 
he  had  just  told  them  that  it  would  be  only  "trlittle 
while  I  am  with  you;  "  and,  worst  of  all,  "  Whither 
I  go  ye  cannot  come."  Could  they  hear  this  un- 
moved? Was  not  the  Master  also  troubled?  Often 
had  he  been  grieved  before,  but  now  the  dagger  is 
from  the  hand  of  a  trusted  friend.  What  a  spec- 
tacle! a  deeply-troubled  heart  pouring  out  its  pent- 
up  sympathies  in  soothing  others !  And  who  so 
competent  to  minister  to  the  sorrowing  and  suffer- 
ing as  he  who  has  himself  "felt  the  same"?  An 
indispensable  qualification  for  the  high-priesthood 
of  our  troubled  and  tempted  race  is  to  have  realized 
"in  all  points"  the  trials  and  troubles  of  humanity. 
The  supernatural  loveliness  and  adorable  perfection 
of  Christ's  character  are  most  impressively  seen  in 
the  closing  days  of  his  life.  Well  might  he  then 
say,  "Now  is  the  Son  of  man  glorified,  and  God  is 
glorified  in  him."  The  last  rays  of  closing  day  are 


282  FAITH    IN    CHRIST. 

the  more  .precious  because  they  are  the  last.  The 
last  words  from  the  pale  and  quivering  lips  of  a 
loved  and  honored  friend  are  treasured  imporisha- 
bly  in  the  memory  of  survivors. 

"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled."  But  what  is 
meant  by  this  prohibition?  Is  it  such  a  stoicism  as 
renders  us  indifferent  to  passing  events?  a  stolid 
condition  of  mind,  which  deadens  our  emotional  nat- 
ure, and  paralyzes  action?  Is  it  a  Dead  Sea  state 
of  the  heart,  without  wind,  waves,  or  current,  when 
the  sluggish  soul  floats  and  drifts  without  aim  or 
effort?  or  is  it  merely  want  of  thoughtful  ness  as 
to  the  present  and  future  welfare  of  ourselves  or 
others?  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  mean- 
ing of  the  text.  He  knew  they  would  have  tribu- 
lation in  the  world;  their  faith  and  patience  would 
be  tried.  It  must  be  so — so  while  life  should  last. 
It  had  been  so  with  him,  and  he  was  just  then  de- 
scending into  an  abyss  of  darkness  and  trouble 
which  extorted  even  from  him  the  confession,  "  My 
soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful  unto  death ! "  This 
mystery  of  mysteries  can  only  find  its  solution  in 
the  vicarious  character  of  the  Sufferer,  the  neces- 
sity of  his  personal  experience  to  fully  qualify  him 
for  the  office  of  the  priesthood,  and  to  demonstrate, 
by  passing  triumphantly  through  this  last  great 
trial,  his  just  claim  as  Son  of  God  and  Saviour  of 
man.  The  text  does  not  say,  Let  not  your  heart 
be  sensible  of  grief  and  sad  on  account  of  your 
present  condition  or  prospective  trials,  but  be  not 
so  distressed  and  cast  down  as  to  abandon  your 
vocation  and  disqualify  you  for  duties.  You  must 


^FAITH    IN    CHRIST.  283 

temper  your  natural  sorrow  by  a  supernatural  joy — 
may  be  cast  down  without  being  destroyed.  Judas 
may  betray  me,  Peter  deny  me,  Caiapbas  and  Pilate 
unite  to  revile  and  crucify  me,  and  men  and  devils 
hold  a  jubilee  over  my  death  and  your  mart}Trdom; 
but  keep  heart  and  hope.  It  is  only  for  a  little 
time.  "I  will  come  again."  My  degradation  is  a 
preliminary  to  my  exaltation — our  temporary  sep- 
aration to  my  speedy  return  and  our  eternal  re- 
union. In  order  that  this  end  may  be  attained,  it  is 
necessary  on  your  part  that  you  shall  not  only  be- 
lieve in  God,  as  you  do,  but  you  must  "  believe  also 
in  me."  From  which  we  inkier  that  a  belief  in  God 
is  not  sufficient  to  relieve  the  heart  from  trouble,  but  that 
a  true  and  .abiding  faith  in  Christ  will  do  it. 

No  Christian  can  deny  the  existence  of  God.  It 
is  the  foundation-doctrine  of  all  religion  as  well  as 
of  all  true  philosophy.  The  atheist  is  a  heresiarch 
in  theology,  a  sophist  in  science,  the  foe  of  all  order, 
moral,  social,  and  political.  He  ignores  the  rela- 
tions between  beings — the  fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  brotherhood  of  men,  and  their  consequent  mut- 
ual obligations,  and,  by  thus  destroying  the  basis 
of  duty,  resolves  all  virtue  into  policy,  and  consigns 
a  life  evolved  by  chance  to  a  grave  unillumined  by 
hope.  His  creed,  if  he  may  be  said  to  have  one,  is 
such  a  monstrous  contradiction  of  the  laws  of  evi- 
dence, of  the  dictates  of  reason  and  common  sense, 
and  the  instinctive  cravings  of  the  human  heart, 
that  we  need  no  argument  to  show  its  fallacy.  Its 
philosophical  absurdity  is  equaled  only  by  its  horrid 
impiety.  And  yet  he  has  a  heart  which  will  throb 


284  FAITH   IN   CHRIST. 

with  troubles  that  will  not  down  at  his  bidding. 
He  can  no  more  prevent  it  than  he  can  resist  the 
law  of  gravitation.  He  is  isolated  from  his  normal 
relation  to  his  great  Father,  and  his  soul  cries  out 
for  divine  sympathy,  but  it  is  a  cry  in  a  desert. 
No  answer  comes  back  but  the  echo  of  his  own  de- 
spairing wail.  There  is  none  to  reply.  Whether 
there  are  really  any  theoretical  atheists,  and  whether 
the  belief  in  God  is  natural  or  educational,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  argue.  It  would  be  as  difficult  as  use- 
less for  our  purpose  to  test  the  question.  While 
"the  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the 
firmament  showeth  his  handiwork,"  and  "things 
that  are  made  make  known  his  eternal  power  and 
Godhead  "  to  all  who  in  any  way  may  have  attained 
the  conception  of  a  supernatural  being,  yet,  whether 
such  a  concept  would  originate  in  the  mind,  is 
thought  very  doubtful.  Nor  is  it  probable  the  ex- 
periment has  been  or  will  be  made.  Tradition,  and 
revelation  in  some  form,  have  traveled  with  the 
race,  insomuch  that  no  considerable  number  of  peo- 
ple have  been  found  together  who  have  not  received 
the  great  primal  truth  of  history.  But  what  if  Nat- 
ure could  teach  the  superhuman  origin  of  the  world, 
can  it  make  known  God's  will,  his  character,  and  his 
designs,  with  sufficient  clearness  and  authority  as  to 
constitute  that  idea  a  rule  of  action  and  a  solace  in 
trouble?  It  is  a  mere  negation,  and  consequently 
is  utterly  inoperative. 

Nor  can  deism,  any  more  than  atheism,  meet  the 
wants  and  relieve  the  troubles  of  the  human  heart. 
No  view  which  simple  deism  presents  of  God,  provi- 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  285 

dence,  and  futurity,  can  satisfy  it.  The  disciples  to 
whom  the  text  was  addressed  were  Jews — they  be- 
lieved on  God — it  was  the  highest  type  of  theism, 
vastly  higher  than  that  held  by  Mohammedan  or 
pagan  philosophers.  They  believed  in  the  one  true, 
only  Lord  God — the  God  of  the  old  covenant — but 
still  their  minds  and  hearts  were  deeply  troubled. 
Like  the  eunuch  reading  Isaiah,  they  needed  an  in- 
terpreter. Is  Nature  a  competent  one?  Are  there 
thousands  of  gods,  as  then  taught  in  the  mythology 
of  the  most  cultured  and  noblest  nations  in  the  pa- 
gan world?  Or  is  he  "One"?  Is  he  to  be  loved 
and  trusted,  or  feared  and  shunned?  If  propitious, 
how  can  his  favor  be  retained?  if  forfeited,  how  re- 
gained? Is  he  good  essentially  and  unchangeably? 
or  capricious,  by  turns  kind  and  cruel?  Does  Nat- 
ure satisfactorily  answer  these  questions?  We  as- 
sert that  reason,  unaided,  does  not — it  never  has. 
Can  it  reconcile  the  present  condition  of  our 
world  with  infinite  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness, 
without  assuming  the  historic  truth  of  the  Bible? 
Who  is  so  blind  as  not  to  perceive  that,  amidst  the 
displays  of  wisdom  and  goodness  in  the  physical 
universe,  disorder  and  evil  on  our  planet  are  equally 
apparent? 

See  the  ocean!  What  a  mirror  of  the  glorious 
stellar  world!  Imagination  hears  in  the  gentle 
heaving  of  its  billows,  ceaselessly  chafing  its  re- 
sounding shores,  the  pean  of  its  great  Creator;  but 
when  the  heavens  grow  black  with  clouds,  and  the 
tempest,  with  its  blazing  and  blinding  lightning,  its 
crashing  thunder,  and  the  deafening  roar  of  its  wild 


286  FAITH    IN   CHRIST. 

waves,  comes  down  upon  its  late  peaceful  bosom, 
lashing  it  into  a  furious  and  destructive  whirlpool, 
ingulfing  innocent  thousands  who  look  up  and  cry 
in  vain  for  rescue,  what  lesson  does  this  scene  of 
death  and  ruin  teach?  Is  this  the  voice  of  the  great 
Creator  in  tones  of  wrath  or  mercy?  Do  the  doubts 
and  fears  of  the  troubled  hearts  subside  into  filial 
trust?  If  we  turn  to  the  sky — the  heavens  which 
declare  his  glory  when  calm  and  transparent  by 
day,  or  when  gemmed  with  countless  stars  of  ra- 
diant beauty  at  night,  shedding  down  their  twink- 
ling sheen  upon  mountains  and  vales,  rivers  and 
rivulets,  tombs  and  turrets — it  may  easily  be  imag- 
ined that  we  catch  the  low,  sweet  notes  of  a  celestial 

minstrelsy, 

Forever  singing  as  they  shine, 
The  hand  that  made  us  is  Divine. 

But  when  every  heavenly  light  is  eclipsed,  and  the 
dread  monotone  of  the  coming  tornado  is  heard  ap- 
proaching, interrupted  only,  as  it  rolls  on  its  path- 
way of  clouds,  by  coruscations  of  lightning  and 
bursts  of  thunder,  until,  presently,  it  sweeps  in  re- 
sistless fury,  like  the  very  genius  of  destruction, 
through  venerable  forests,  cultivated  plains,  and 
marts  of  commerce,  does  it  not  seem  that  the  prince 
and  power  of  the  air  has  assumed  his  throne? 

Nor  does  the  earth  itself,  the  abode  of  our  race, 
which,  according  to  the  Bible,  was  adorned  and 
beautified  as  a  paradise  of  fertility,  beauty,  and  pu- 
rity— fit  home  for  our  ancestors,  "  who  were  made 
only  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  " — the  antecham- 
ber of  heaven  itself,  where  God  held  audience  with 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  287 

them — more  clearly  solve  the  great  questions  of  the 
character  of  its  Maker,  when  unassisted  reason  be- 
comes Nature's  interpreter.  Its  changing  livery,  as 
the  seasons  succeed  each  other;  its  undulating  hills 
and  valleys;  its  mountains,  rising  into  the  region  of 
perpetual  snow,  and  glittering  in  mid-heaven  like 
icebergs  in  a  great  aerial  ocean  ;  its  unbroken  ranges 
of  frowning  ramparts,  which  stretch  across  wholo 
continents;  its  majestic  rivers;  its  cataracts;  its  sil- 
very lakes;  its  murmuring  rills;  its  verdant  plains; 
its  grass,  herbs,  flowers,  and  fruits,  proclaim  his  good- 
ness and  his  power.  But  these  mountains  have  been 
thrown  up  by  deeply-seated  internal  fires,  and  three 
hundred  active  volcanoes  now  throb  and  glow  in 
the  interior,  and  anon  pour  forth  rivers  of  blazing 
lava  to  devastate  the  land.  Not  more  than  one- 
tenth  of  the  earth's  surface  is  fit  for  the  comfortable 
residence  of  man.  Rocks  and  desert  wastes,  frozen 
seas  and  burning  sands,  precipitous  cliffs  and  fright- 
ful chasms,  make  up  a  large  portion  of  its  crust. 
The  nutritious  products  of  the  earth  of  spontaneous 
growth  are  few,  even  in  the  most  favored  latitudes. 
The  sweat  of  the  brow  is  the  price  paid  for  daily 
bread,  and  many  fail  to  obtain  it  even  at  that  price. 
The  irregularities  of  the  seasons,  storms,  depreda- 
tions of  insects,  floods,  and  other  unavoidable  cas- 
ualties, frequently  frustrate  the  honest,  hard  toilers, 
leaving  many  to  suffer,  and  some  to  starve.  Every 
year  gaunt  Famine,  with  hollow  eyes,  emaciated, 
outstretched  hands,  and  sepulchral  voice,  lifts  the 
wail,  "  Come  over  and  help  us  ere  we  die!"  Even 
to-day,  before  the  cry  of  the  Irish  famine  has  died 


288  FAITH   IN    CHRIST. 

away,  or  the  ships  that  bore  them  the  generous  gifts 
of  fraternal  sympathy  have  returned,  there  comes 
the  same  appeal  from  the  cradle  of  our  race :  Mill- 
ions in  Asia  perishing  for  bread!  Surely  earth  has 
long  ago  lost  her  paradise,  and  it  has  not  yet  been 
regained. 

But  consider  man  himself.  If  his  present  condi- 
tion is  the  direct  result  of  divine  agency,  as  deism 
must  maintain,  how  does  his  physical,  intellectual, 
and  moral  state  illustrate  the  character  of  his  Ma- 
ker? Discarding  the  biblical  history  of  his  creation 
and  fall,  infidels  have  not  only  been  sadly  puzzled 
to  account  for  his  origin,  but  scarcely  less  so  by 
his  recorded  history.  "  Fearfully  and  wonderfully 
made  "  as  to  his  physical  organization,  invested  with 
astonishing  powers  of  mind,  and  a  still  more  myste- 
rious moral  sense,  taking  cognizance  of  right  and 
wrong,  and  approaching  a  loftier  order  of  beings 
in  his  capabilities  and  aspirations — alas,  how  often 
are  these  noble  endowments  subjected  to  the  despot- 
ism of  passion  and  beastly  instincts,  illustrating  the 
fable  of  the  Centaur — half-human  and  half-beast! 
History  shows  war  to  have  been  his  occupation, 
sensuality  his  chief  enjoyment,  and  self  his  divinity. 
The  exceptions  to  this  rule  have  been  so  few,  espe- 
cially out  of  Christian  countries,  as  to  prove  the  rule. 

But  it  is  held  that  the  uniformity  of  Nature's  laws 
furnishes  sufficient  ground  as  to  the  character  of 
God  as  to  induce  to  piety,  trust,  and  filial  love.  We 
deny  it.  While  there  is  a  general  uniformity  in  the 
operations  of  the  material  universe,  we  deny  that 
to  man,  individually,  it  is  so  obvious  as  to  remove 


FAITH    IN    CHRIST.  289 

doubt,  and  relieve  the  heart  from  trouble  upon  the 
momentous  issue  of  his  present  relation  to  his  Cre- 
ator, or  his  final  welfare.  God's  providential  deal- 
ings with  man,  viewed  from  a  deistical  stand-point, 
do  not  harmonize  always  with  the  doctrine  that  he 
is  the  object  of  divine  favor.  Whence  come  sorrow 
and  suffering?  and,  if  suffering  is  natural,  why  may 
it  not  be  perpetual?  Why  is  disease  in  various 
forms  universally  prevalent  ?  Whence  those  terrible 
epidemics  which  spring  up  suddenly  and  sweep 
away  millions  to  an  untimely  grave  ?  Infantile  in- 
nocence and  hoary  age,  the  pure  and  the  vicious,  the 
benefactors  and  malefactors  of  society,  statesmen, 
poets,  orators,  patriots,  female  beauty,  maternal  gen- 
tleness, and  manly  nobleness,  suffer  and  die  alike. 
"  There  is  no  house  without  a  skeleton,"  no  hearth- 
stone without  a  shadow.  Often  the  fairest  flowers 
are  the  first  to  fade — the  most  worthy  and  useful 
the  first  to  die.  Is  not  some  revelation  wanted  to 
explain  these  apparent  contradictions,  in  order  to 
assure  our  faith  and  assuage  our  grief  ?  Does  a  kind 
father  treat  his  children  thus,  and  leave  them  igno- 
rant both  of  the  cause  and  design  of  their  condition? 
Nor  let  it  be  thought  sufficient  to  reply,  as  to  the 
cause  of  this  disorder  and  suffering,  that  "  Deity  is 
not  bound  to  explain,  nor  to  interfere  with,  the 
course  of  events;  "vfor,  if  we  might  forego  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  cause,  may  we  not,  with  good  reason, 
reverently  urge  to  know  if  there  is  a  remedy,  and, 
if  so,  what  it  is? 

Heretofore  our  remarks  have  had  reference  main- 
ly to  the  conflict  between  Nature,  as  seen  in  the  con- 
13 


290  FAITH   IN   CHRIST. 

dition  of  our  planet,  and  more  especially  in  the  phys- 
ical infirmities  and  afflictions  of  men,  and  our  con- 
ceptions of  the  Deity;  but  when  we  consider  man 
in  his  higher  and  nobler  relation  of  a  moral,  spirit- 
ual, and  accountable  being,  the  question  assumes  a 
graver  aspect.  How  deep  and  wide  the  chasm 
yawns  between  what  he  might  be,  and  ought  to  be, 
and  what  he  is!  Who  can  bridge  that  abyss?  Hu- 
man reason,  conscience,  and  laws,  have  all  tried  it 
for  ages,  and  failed.  This  difference  between  the 
ideal  and  the  real  of  human  character  and  conduct 
proves  his  guilt  and  consequent  degradation,  and 
presents  him  in  an  attitude  toward  his  Maker 
which  no  other  creature  on  earth  sustains.  Vege- 
tables and  animals,  in  their  natural  state,  attain 
their  legitimate  end,  and,  after  their  kind,  reach 
perfection.  But  man  is  the  anomaly.  He,  alone, 
fails  to  fulfill  the  purpose  for  which  his  intellectual 
and  moral  attributes  adapt  him.  In  him  only  con- 
science resides,  and  is  in  ceaseless  antagonism  with 
passion,  and  is  often  its  victim.  He  believes  in  God, 
but,  ignoring  him,  neither  fears  nor  loves  him — with 
capabilities  which  assimilate  him  to  angels,  he  too 
often  resembles  the  infernal  spirit,  and  counterplots 
his  Creator.  An  eagle,  made  to  roam  the  sky,  he 
dabbles  in  the  mire  of  the  barn-yard  for  the  filthy 
muck-worm.  A  lion,  and  "monarch  of  all  he  sur- 
veys," he  is  the  degraded  vassal  of  ignoble  animal 
instincts,  notwithstanding  all  the  restraints  which 
can  be  found  in  civilization,  example,  and  the  de- 
nunciations of  "  eternal  judgment." 

Let  it  not  be  objected  that  this  picture  is  darker 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  291 

than  the  reality.  Would  that  it  were!  but,  alas!  we 
know  it  is  not.  Nor  let  it  be  said  that,  while  athe- 
ism and  deism,  as  formerly  inculcated,  may  be  in- 
adequate to  the  demands  of  the  mind  and  heart,  the 
late  discoveries  in  science  and  theology  have  devel- 
oped in  pantheism,  naturalism,  and  rationalism,  a 
solution  of  the  problems  of  humanit}7.  But  while 
these  several  systems  differ  apparently  from  those 
already  discussed,  and  also  from  each  other,  they  are 
only  the  same  old  theories  of  infidelity  modified  to 
suit  the  emergency — the  rallied  remnant  of  the  de- 
feated cohorts  falling  back  to  a  new  position — their 
names  changed,  but  not  their  identity,  nor  their 
animus.  Their  common  origin — and  their  "  name 
is  Legion  " — is  atheism  under  different  aliases.  Old- 
fashioned  atheism  denied  God;  pantheism  denies  his 
personality;  rationalism,  while  in  words  it  acknowl- 
edges his  existence,  banishes  him  to  a  distant  soli- 
tude, and  practically  dethrones  him.  The  natural- 
ists talk  flippantly  about  him,  and  yet  substitute  the 
laws  of  nature  for  him,  as  if  laws  enact  and  execute 
themselves.  In  fact,  the  latest  theory  of  the  ad- 
vanced scientists — the  evolutionists — have  practi- 
cally discarded  an  actual  God,  and  reverted  to  bald 
atheism.  Spiritualism,  as  taught  by  some  who  wear 
the  name  and  livery  of  the  Christian  ministry,  is 
only  baptized  rationalism.  It  admits  only  a  nomi- 
nal difference  between  natural  and  revealed  religion, 
their  favorite  maxim  being  that  "  every  man  pos- 
sesses in  his  own  mind  the  absolute  truth,  and  that 
the  objects  of  worship  are  accidental  circumstances 
peculiar  to  the  age,  sect,  nation,  or  individual ; "  and 


292  FAITH   IN   CHRIST. 

finally,  that  "  the  next  great  reformation  is  to  de- 
liver us,  by  philosophical  spiritualism,  from  the 
two  great  idols — the  Bible  and  Christ,"  "as  Prot- 
estantism delivered  us  from  the  tyranny  of  the 
Church  and  the  pope."  May  we  not  respond,  in 
the  name  of  God  and  humanity,  From  such  reform- 
ers "good  Lord  deliver  us!" 

Having  looked  in  vain  into  these  empty  cisterns 
of  philosophic  speculations,  and  found  in  them  no 
water  of  life  for  famishing  and  sorrowing  souls,  the 
great  question  recurs,  Is  there  any  remedy?  May 
deliverance  be  found  and  felt  —  deliverance  from 
doubts  of  mind  and  troubles  of  heart,  from  the 
domination  of  evil  passions,  the  crushing  sense  of 
guilt,  and  the  foreshadowing  dread  of  avenging  jus- 
tice? To  the  agonizing  soul  which  asks  this  ques- 
tion there  comes  from  all  the  schools  of  philosophic 
speculation  no  reliable  reply. 

Having  attempted  to  show  that  the  contemplation 
of  God  without  reference  to  Christ  cannot  relieve 
the  heart  of  trouble,  we  proceed  to  explain — 

How  the  Christian  revelation  accomplishes  this 
end. 

1.  It  exhibits  the  true  character  of  God,  and  the  real 
condition  and  wants  of  man.  As  the  basis  of  every 
system  of  religion  is  the  character  of  its  God,  so,  to 
err  here,  is  to  err  fundamentally.  It  is  an  error 
which  cannot  be  eliminated  from  the  system,  but  is 
inseparably  interwoven  with  the  whole  theory  of  its 
doctrines,  precepts,  and  practice.  A  bad  foundation 
ruins  the  whole  superstructure.  While  gratefully 
accepting  the  truths  taught  us  in  Nature — that  first 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  293 

volume  of  revelation — and  in  those  great  historic 
and  theocratic  developments  of  his  character  made 
in  the  inspired  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  and, 
therefore,  like  the  disciplos,  we  "  believe  in  God" — 
we  hold  that  these  revelations,  however  true  and  suf- 
ficient for  their  time  and  purpose,  were  incomplete. 
They  marked  out  the  foundation  and  reared  the 
frame- work;  but  to  beautify,  perfect,  and  fully  util- 
ize the  great  temple,  the  Lord  himself  must  come 
into  it,  and  fill  it  with  his  glory.  We  must  see  his 
glory  as  revealed  in  the  Son,  "  the  only-begotten  of 
the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth." 

The  deistical  view  of  God  represents  him  as  the 
cause,  and  the  biblical  view  as  also  the  Father  and 
Governor,  of  the  universe;  and,  while  the  former 
stops  there,  and  practically  neutralizes  the  efficiency 
of  this  great  doctrine,  the  Bible  announces  that,  "in 
the  unity  of  nature  in  the  Godhead,  there  are  three 
Persons — the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
— of  one  substance,  power,  and  Godhead."  To  the 
first  is  ascribed  creation  and  preservation;  to  the 
second,  redemption  and  mediation  ;  and  to  the  third, 
regeneration  and  comforting.  Now,  inasmuch  as  in- 
finite perfection  excludes  all  imperfection,  or  what- 
ever is  essentially  different,  so  any  number  of  infi- 
nitely perfect  beings  must  be  alike.  They  cannot 
differ  in  nature,  and  thus  must  be  in  reality  one  Be- 
ing. In  this  sense,  " these  Three  are  One"  Between 
these  Three  there  is  a  distinction  of  personality,  with- 
out a  difference  of  nature.  This  distinct  personality 
is  not  to  be  understood  in  a  strictly  philosophical 
sense,  or  of  official  relations,  but  to  each  distinct  vo- 


294  FAITH   IN   CHRIST. 

litions  and  works  are  ascribed,  and  worship  offered, 
as  to  the  Supreme  Divinity.  As  to  the  manner  of 
their  union  in  the  Godhead,  that  is,  of  course,  in- 
comprehensible to  a  finite  mind. 

The  necessity  for  a  farther  revelation  of  God  than 
Nature  can  give  grows  out  of  the  fact  that  sin  has 
been  introduced,  and  it  is  to  explain  the  discrepancy 
between  the  character  of  the  Creator  and  the  con- 
dition of  his  creatures,  and  at  the  same  time  present 
through  Christ  an  all-sufficient  remedy  for  sin,  and 
all  the  troubles  and  ills  flowing  from  it.  The  en- 
trance of  sin  into  the  world  is  the  key  that  unlocks 
the  mystery  of  the  present  state  of  the  moral  and 
physical  world.  Every  form  of  speculative  philote- 
ophy  ignores  this  fearful  factor  in  the  solution  of  the 
problem.  The  Bible  only  furnishes  it.  It  shows 
that  moral  evil  was  introduced  by  an  act  of  a  hu- 
man free  agent,  to  forcibly  prevent  which  act  would 
have  destroyed  his  freedom  and  his  responsibility, 
and  would  have  been  a  virtual  admission  that  the 
divinely-instituted  plan  of  the  creation,  endowment, 
and  government  of  man,  was  wrong.  With  sin,  this 
new  element,  "  came  death  and  all  our  woe."  It 
teaches  that  this  sin,  being  the  act  of  the  first  man  as  a 
probationer,  and  the  federative  representative  of  his 
race,  not  only  brought  guilt  upon  himself,  but  death 
also  upon  his  posterity;  and  that  it  is  not  merely  a 
negative  thing,  a  defect  of  positive  goodness,  but  a 
positive  evil  in  the  heart,  affecting  all  the  mental 
powers,  and  manifesting  itself  in  the  conduct  of  all 
men.  May  we  not  say  reverently  that,  in  this  great 
emergency,  only  one  of  two  things  remained — either 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  295 

let  the  divine  economy  proceed  to  the  full  execution 
of  the  penalty  of  the  violated  law,  and  thus  sustain 
its  dignity  and  the  authority  of  its  Maker,  or  in- 
tervene in  such  a  manner  and  degree  as  to  attain  this 
end  of  the  divine  government,  and  at  the  same  time 
provide  for  the  rescue  of  the  culprit,  and  the  salva- 
tion of  his  hapless  descendants.  If  the  latter  could 
be  done  without  detracting  from  the  authority  of 
the  law,  obscuring  the  majesty  of  the  Lawgiver  and 
the  heinousness  of  sin,  it  would  seem  to  be  a  rea- 
sonable conclusion  that  it  would  be  done.  If  the 
penalty  incurred  should  be  executed  on  the  trans- 
gressor to  its  full  extent,  then,  as  we  apprehend  it, 
the  race  would  have  terminated  by  the  death  of  the 
personally  guilty.  How  this  result  would  have  af- 
fected the  subsequent  history  of  our  planet,  or  what 
course  the  divine  economy  would  have  adopted  in 
substitution  of  the  original  one,  belongs  to  the  realm 
of  speculation,  into  which  we  do  not  choose  here 
to  intrude.  Suffice  to  say,  for  the  present,  that  the 
resources  of  the  infinite  God  were  equal  to  this  mo- 
mentous emergency,  and  the  alternative  of  redemp- 
tion was  projected  by  the  All-prescient  Mind. 

2.  It  offers  a  competent  Saviour  and  a  full  salva- 
tion upon  reasonable  conditions.  Intervention,  or 
redemption,  by  power  alone  would  be  ineffectual, 
because  it  would  only  act  externally;  and  the  rem- 
edy must  also  be  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual, 
to  meet  all  the  demands  of  the  case.  An  advocate 
was  needed — a  redeemer,  a  ransom,  and  reconcilia- 
tion. It  must  be  by  one  not  himself  disqualified  by 
sin — not  a  disloval  advocate  of  traitors.  In  nature 


296  FAITH   IN   CHRIST. 

and  character  he  must  rise  to  the  dignity  of  his  high 
commission,  and  yet  not  be  insulated  from  the  low- 
liness and  infirmities  of  those  whose  cause  he  rep- 
resents. He  must  know  both  parties — fully  com- 
prehend the  law  and  facts — must  be  in  sympathy 
with  both,  and  the  equal  of  either.  While,  as  an 
actual  sinner,  he  could  not  be  heard  at  the  bar  of 
supreme  justice,  he  must  be  the  sinless,  piacular 
substitute  of  a  world  of  sinners.  Above  the  law, 
its  claims  and  curses,  he  must  come  under  it,  and 
atone  for  its  violation.  He  must  be  more  than  man, 
and  less  than  God,  and  yet  be  truly  God  and  man. 
Where  can  such  a  one  be  found?  In  whom  may 
such  seemingly  paradoxical  and  incongruous  char- 
acteristics inhere?  Where  is  he?  From  the  throne 
of  the  doomed  prince,  hell,  and  the  wide  domain  of 
sin  and  woe,  the  answer  comes,  "Not  here."  From 
the  higher  seat  of  Michael,  the  archangel  warrior, 
"  who  standeth  for  thy  people,"  and  from  Gabriel 
and  the  countless  hosts  in  that  glorious,  wider  realm 
of  light  and  life  eternal,  the  reply  is,  "  We  are  not 
able;"  and  earth,  with  despairing  wail,  cries,  "Not 
here!  not  here!" 

Well  might  the  holy  apostle  say  of  that  awfully 
sublime  scene,  as  unfolded  to  him  in  that  apocalyptic 
vision,  "And  I  wept  much."  And  then  "the  Lamb 
came  forth  and  took  the  book  out  of  the  right-hand 
of  him  that  sat  upon  the  throne,"  and  all  those  first- 
born sons  of  glory  "fell  down  and  worshiped  before 
the  Lamb,  and  sung  a  new  song"  Nor  is  it  strange 
that  John  ceased  to  weep,  and  joined  in  the  anthem 
which  celebrates  the  redemption  of  humanity.  Men 


FAITH    IN    CHRIST.  297 

and  angels  sing  this  song  in  unison.  In  the  bibli- 
cal doctrine  of  the  Trinity  in  Unity  the  possibility  of 
redemption  is  laid.  A  tripersonality  in  unity  of  nat- 
ure is  indispensable.  "  Lo,  Jcome  to  do  thy  will,  O 
God ! "  "  If  I  go,  I  will  send  the  Comforter  to  you," 
"  and  he  shall  reprove  the  world,"  etc. 

The  second  Person  in  the  adorable  Trinity,  who 
was  in  the  beginning  with  God,  and  was  God,  the 
Son  whose  throne  is  forever  and  ever,  whom  all  the 
angels  are  commanded  to  worship,  who  created  all 
things  for  himself,  and  was  before  all  things,  who  is 
God  over  all,  and  blessed  forever,  was  incarnated, 
born  of  the  Virgin — very  God  and  truly  man — being 
begotten  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  came  forth  from  the 
bosom  of  the  Father  as  Mediator  between  God  and 
man.  Such  he  was  preeminently  qualified  to  be, 
perfectly  meeting  all  the  demands  of  the  divine  law 
and  the  necessities  of  man.  He,  and  he  only,  in  all 
God's  universe,  was  able  to  save  man,  and,  in  saving 
a  lost  and  ruined  race,  glorify  God.  This  process 
required  atonement,  regeneration,  and  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead.  Without  an  atonement  there  could 
be  no  pardon ;  "  and  without  shedding  of  blood 
is  no  remission  of  sin."  The  penalty  of  sin  is 
death,  temporal  or  natural,  moral  or  spiritual,  and, 
by  consequence,  eternal.  Whether  we  consider  the 
object  against  whom  it  is  committed,  the  far-reach- 
ing consequences  of  unrestrained  and  unpunished 
transgression,  we  must  feel  that  satisfaction  must  be 
made,  or  the  penalty  be  inflicted.  Justice,  truth, 
and  even  divine  goodness,  required  it  to  maintain 
order  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  universe  and 
13* 


298  FAITH   IN    CHRIST. 

the  glory  of  God.  To  subserve  this  great  purpose 
the  Son  of  God,  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  comes 
forth.  As  God  incarnate,  he  stands  as  a  fit  Media- 
tor, being  equally  allied  to  both  parties.  In  his  hu- 
man nature,  of  "  soul  and  body  subsisting,"  he  places 
on  the  altar  of  sacrifice  his  all — his  mind  and  will 
to  obey,  his  body  to  be  tortured,  and  to  die — "  his 
soul  as  an  offering  for  sin  " — until,  wrung  to  the 
height  of  distress,  he  exclaims,  "  Now  is  my  soul 
troubled— what  shall  I  say? "  "  Thy  will  be  done." 
"  It  is  finished,"  and  "  gave  up  the  ghost."  The 
mysterious  union  of  his  divine  with  his  human 
nature,  which  constituted  his  personality  as  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  and  imparted  to  this  "  oblation  of 
himself"  a  moral  and  legal  worth  and  merit,  is,  and 
ever  will  be,  without  a  parallel.  The  character  of 
the  Sufferer,  the  nature  and  intensity  of  his  suffer- 
ings, his  voluntary  sacrifice  of  life  upon  which  death 
had  no  original  claim,  the  acceptance  of  the  substi- 
tution of  the  Advocate  for  the  criminal  by  the 
Father,  as  shown  by  the  voice  from  heaven  as  he 
hung  on  the  cross,  his  resurrection  from  the  tomb, 
his  triumphant  ascension,  and  his  installation  as 
High-priest  of  humanity,  demonstrate  both  the  fit- 
ness of  his  claim  and  his  recognition  as  Redeemer 
and  Mediator.  He  had  the  power  and  the  right  to 
lay  down  his  life  and  to  take  it  again.  And  he  did 
it.  It  was  a  voluntary,  vicarious,  and  piacular  of- 
fering for  the  sins  of  the  world.  It  originated  in 
the  love  of  God,  satisfied  justice,  and  while  it  showed 
his  hatred  of  sin,  it  sustained  all  the  righteous  ends 
of  his  government  by  the  conditions  of  salvation; 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  299 

it  so  gloriously  illustrated  his  character  of  God,  as 
Father  and  Governor  of  the  world,  as  to  give  the 
highest  incentive  to  true  piety  and  the  sternest  re- 
buke to  sin. 

In  tracing  the  outlines  of  the  redemptory  scheme, 
and  defining  the  parts  borne  by  the  respective  di- 
vine persons  in  accomplishing  it,  let  us  bear  in  mind 
that  the  resurrection  of  the  body  is,  in  the  order  of 
time,  the  final  great  act  in  the  triumph  of  Christ 
over  natural  evil.  At  death  the  soul  passes  into 
paradise  —  Abraham's  bosom.  The  body  returns 
"  to  earth  as  it  was; "  but  "  all  that  are  in  the  graves 
shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth;  they  that 
have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life;  and 
they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
damnation  "  (John  v.  28,  29).  And  when  the  last 
echo  of  that  "voice"  shall  have  returned,  changing 
the  living  and  awakening  the  dead — when  every 
grave  shall  have  yielded  its  prisoner,  the  ocean 
given  up  its  slurnberers,  and  the  countless  myriads 
of  humanity  of  all  climes  and  ages  shall  have  come 

forth, 

From  world  to  luminous  world  afar, 

As  the  universe  spreads  its  flaming  walls, 

assembled  by  the  resistless  call  of  God,  shall  stand 
for  trial  in  the  universal  judgment  at  the  bar  of  God; 
then,  having  finished  his  Mediatorial  commission, 
will  the  Son  receive,  by  acclamation,  his  promised 
throne,  and  proceed  to  execute  supreme  judicial 
power.  The  scenes  that  follow  will  be  retributive, 
the  results  unchangeable  and  eternal.  The  drama 
of  probationary  existence  will  be  closed  forever. 


300  FAITH    IN    CHRIST. 

"  They  that  were  ready "  entered  with  the  bride- 
groom into  the  marriage-supper  of  the  Lamb,  and 
the  door  be  shut;  and  those  not  ready,  driven  to  the 
prison  of  the  damned,  and  that  door  too  be  closed 
forever  and  ever. 

Inseparably  associated  in  this  system  with  the 
works  and  offices  of  Christ  is  the  doctrine  of  the 
third  Person  in  the  adorable  Trinity  —  the  Holy 
Spirit.  All  those  scriptural  arguments  which  so 
clearly  prove  the  personality  and  divinity  of  the 
Son,  apply  to  establish  the  same  claims  to  him;  and 
but  for  him,  and  his  cooperation  with  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  the  great  scheme  would  fail.  The 
moral  depravity  of  our  race,  our  infirmities  and 
heart -troubles,  would  render  the  efforts  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son  abortive  without  his  regen- 
erative, strengthening,  and  comforting  agency. 
The  new  birth  and  holiness  are  as  needful  as  par- 
don. "Ye  must  be  born  again — born  of  the  Spirit." 
"  Without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord."  And 
these  are  the  works  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Like  to  the 
Father,  and  the  Son,  he  is  in  the  Scriptures  called 
God  (Acts  v.  3).  Divine  attributes  and  acts  are 
ascribed  to  him  (Heb.  ix.  14;  Ps.  cxxxix.  7;  John 
xiv.  20;  1  Cor.  ii.  10, 11).  He  is  worshiped  as  God 
(Matt,  xxviii.  9).  His  name  is  associated  with  the 
names  of  Father  and  Son  in  baptism,  and  a  special 
degree  of  guilt  and  punishment  are  denounced  to 
sins  against  him.  He  "  proceedeth  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son  —  is  of  one  substance,  majesty,  and 
glory,  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  very  and  eternal 
God> 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  301 

Having  attempted  to  show  the  insufficiency  of 
mere  theism,  and  of  every  form  and  modification  of 
skepticism,  to  afford  substantial  comfort  to  hearts 
troubled  by  doubts,  fears,  and  trials,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  abundant  provision  presented  in  the 
gospel  scheme  for  all  our  wants  by  the  gracious  co- 
operation of  the  Godhead,  as  manifested  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  us  inquire  how  we  can 
avail  ourselves  of  the  benefits  of  this  provisionary 
plan.  The  answer  is,  "Believe  also  in  Me." 

The  entire  plan  of  salvation  is  conditional.  "What 
the  Redeemer  only  could  do,  he  has  done  for  us.  His 
death  was  the  condition  upon  which  "  we  were  rec- 
onciled to  God."  The  benefits  of  his  vicarious  suf- 
ferings extend  to  the  race  he  represents.  The  curse, 
or  condemnation  for  original  sin,  is  lifted  from  it  by 
Him  who  "  was  made  a  curse  for  us;"  and  the  free 
gift  is  come  upon  all  to  justification  to  life,  inso- 
much that  all  the  race  who  are  incapable  of  comply- 
ing with  the  laws  of  Christ  are  unconditionally 
~saved  from  condemnation.  But  those  who  can 
understand  their  obligations,  and  the  reasons  for 
obedience,  are  placed  on  a  different  foundation. 
Their  salvation  is  conditional.  They  must  accept 
the  provision  made  and  tendered  them,  or  they  can- 
not be  saved.  Who  but  Christ  has  the  right  to  pre- 
scribe this  condition?  He  has  done  it,  and  it  is 
faith  in  him. 

This  is  a  most  wise  and  gracious  prerequisite.  It 
recognizes  our  faculties  and  all  our  wants,  and  is 
adapted  to  our  condition.  It  says  to  sinful  and 
troubled  man,  Lift  your  eye  to  the  Redeemer.  He 


302  FAITH   IN   CHRIST. 

is  not  only  faultless  in  himself,  but,  standing  in  the 
relation  he  sustains  to  God  and  man  in  the  economy 
of  redemption,  his  character  is  surpassingly  interest- 
ing. Faith  and  philosophy,  reason  and  revelation, 
point  alike  to  him  as  the  visible  representative  of  the 
Godhead,  and  the  sympathizing  friend  of  humanity. 
His  is  the  bright  excellence  which  has  disarmed  hos- 
tility, on  which  so  many  millions  have  dwelt  with 
unmingled  love  and  veneration  —  an  excellence 
which  no  fiction  or  history  besides  furnishes  us — in 
whom  power  and  wisdom  are  subordinated  to  per- 
fect love.  It  is  the  picture  of  one  gentle  toward  the 
infirmities  and  follies  of  man — patient  with  his  way- 
wardness, lovingly  forgetful  of  his  wrongs — of  one 
who  "  never  broke  the  bruised  reed,"  who  came  to 
soothe  and  bind  up  the  troubled  heart,  to  give  de- 
liverance to  the  captive,  to  welcome  penitence  to 
his  feet,  and  to  offer  to  the  weary  rest.  In  a  word, 
jt  is  a  picture  whose  whole  life  was  one  long  yearn- 
ing of  sympathy  with  the  sorrows  of  humanity, 
whose  death  expiated  the  sin  of  the  world,  and 
whose  resurrection  and  mediation  reopened  the 
long-closed  gate  of  paradise  to  the  troubled  in  heart. 
To  Him,  then,  let  the  weary  and  heavy-laden  bring 
their  burden  of  sin,  doubt,  and  grief,  and  lay  them 
at  the  foot  of  the  cross.  Let  all  who  believe  in  God 
and  tremble,  believe  also  in  Him  to  whose  divinity 
heaven,  earth,  and  hell,  bore  testimony.  Are  they 
ignorant,  he  is  their  wisdom;  are  they  condemned, 
he  is  their  justification;  are  they  depraved,  he  is 
their  eanctification ;  are  they  blind,  impotent,  friend- 
less, and  wretched,  he  is  an  ever-present  and  all- 


FAITH   IN   CHRIST.  303 

sufficient  Saviour.  All  this  assuredly  he  is  to  them 
that  believe  in  him.  Faith  in  him  honors  the  Father 
who  sent  him,  the  Holy  Spirit  who  testified  of  him. 
It  is  his  due.  To  discredit  the  Son  is  to  give  the  lie 
direct  to  God,  who  declared  him  to  be  his  Son  to 
angels,  who  worship  him,  and  to  millions  of  the 
wisest  and  best  men,  living  and  dead,  who  trusted 
him.  A  humble,  penitential  faith  in  Christ,  and 
an  implicit  trust  in  him  as  our  Redeemer,  is  the 
condition  of  forgiveness — the  only  one  adapted  to 
our  state  and  practicable  to  us — the  only  one  which 
protects  the  divine  government  by  leading  to  loving 
obedience  to  God,  practical  charity  to  men,  insures 
the  victory  "that  overcometh  the  world,"  and  pro- 
vides for  all  our  wants  here  and  hereafter.  This  is 
our  remedy.  We  have  no  other — we  need  no  other. 
"  Earth  hath  no  sorrow  that  Heaven  cannot  heal." 


XVI. 

LESSONS  FROM  THE  BAPTISM  OF  JESUS 
BY  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST. 

BY  THE  REV.  H.  C.  SETTLE,  D.D., 

Louisville  Conference. 

"  Suffer  it  to  be  so  now,  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all 
righteousness."  Matt.  iii.  15. 

THE  earthly  life  of  Jesus  was  a  model  life.  At 
twelve  years  of  age  he  was  thoughtful  and  studious. 
His  life-work  was  well  defined  even  then,  and  ear- 
nestly and  wisely  he  engaged  in  the  preparation  for 
it.  He  was  about  thirty  years  old  when  he  spake 
the  words  of  the  text,  but  still  unprepared  to  enter 
upon  his  ministry.  Eighteen  years  have  passed 
away  since  he  spake  those  strange  words  to  his 
troubled  parents  :  "  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be 
about  my  Father's  business?"  And  he  has  not  yet 
presumed  to  feel  that  his  time  for  work  has  come. 
Although  Jesus  began  a  preparation  for  work  ear- 
lier in  life  than  do  most  children,  he  was  also  longer 
engaged  in  that  preparatory  course,  and  entered 
upon  the  responsibilities  of  public  life  at  a  later  pe- 
riod than  do  most  men.  If  the  life  of  Jesus  be 
God's  ideal  of  a  correct  human  life,  may  not  the 
length  of  time  spent  in  preparation  for  work  be  an 
important  feature  in  this  model  life?  May  not 
Heaven  be  teaching  us  this  truth — not  the  number 

(304) 


LESSONS   FROM   THE    BAPTISM    OF   JESUS.  305 

of  years  given  to  work,  but  the  nature  of  it,  and 
the  spirit  of  engagement  in  it,  and  the  manner 
of  its  performance,  are  the  subjects  of  interest  to 
Heaven  ? 

The  importance  of  this  lesson  can  scarcely  be 
overestimated.  The  great  fault  of  our  times  is 
haste.  Our  people  are  indeed  a  fast  people.  Young 
men,  certainly  not  more  highly  gifted  than  Jesus, 
have  finished  their  education,  graduated,  mastered 
professions,  and  entered  upon  public  life,  and  as- 
sumed the  responsibilities  of  important  offices,  be- 
fore they  have  attained  the  age  of  Jesus,  at  which 
he  stood  in  the  presence  of  John  the  Baptist,  mod- 
estly but  earnestly  asking  baptism  at  his  hands. 
Girls  eighteen  years  of  age  enter,  without  fear,  upon 
the  delicate  duties  and  weighty  responsibilities  of 
womanhood. 

It  is  probable  that  this  contrast  between  human 
lives,  as  we  see  them,  and  Heaven's  ideal  life,  as 
realized  in  Jesus,  explains  the  fact  that  his  life, 
^commencing  without  promise,  was  successful,  grand, 
and  beneficent;  while  multitudes,  beginning  with 
promise,  end  in  failure. 

Hasty  commencement  of  work,  assuming  respon- 
sibility before  thorough  preparation  to  bear  it  has 
been  made,  will  go  far  toward  a  satisfactory  expla- 
nation of  the  demoralization  of  our  timee.  To 
work  well  in  any  department  of  life,  something 
more  than  information  is  required.  There  is  a  dif- 
ference and  a  distance  between  knowledge  and  wis- 
dom ;  and  some  time  must  elapse  between  the 
acquirement  of  knowledge  and  the  acquirement,  or 


306  LESSONS   FROM    THE    BAPTISM   OF   JESUS 

development  rather,  of  ability  to  wisely  and  thor- 
oughly use  what  we  have.  The  child  is  physically 
a  man  in  miniature.  He  never  will  have  an  addi- 
tional sense,  nor  an  additional  member.  Muscles 
and  sinews  are  all  in  place,  but  who  would  think  of 
putting  a  man's  burden  upon  a  child's  shoulders? 
He  has  all  that  is  necessary  to  man's  work  save  the 
development  of  muscle  and  sinew.  Until  that  de- 
velopment is  brought  about  by  preparatory  exercise 
he  cannot  do  a  man's  work.  And  woe  to  him  if  he 
seriously  and  persistently  attempt  it!  and  bitter 
disappointment  to  those  who  expect  it  of  him  ! 

There  are  intellectual  sinews  and  muscles,  and 
there  are  sinews  and  muscles  to  the  moral  man.  To 
bear  responsibilities,  to  meet  the  obligations  of  a 
public  life,  to  carry  the  burdens  and  resist  the  strains 
that  try  all  who  work  among  men,  something  more 
is  needed  than  that  which  our  parents  and  teachers 
can  give  us — something  more  than  can  be  acquired 
in  any  way.  Knowledge  of  men,  knowledge  of  self, 
knowledge  of  God,  all  are  important;  but  these  must 
do  in  us,  intellectually  and  morally,  what  food  and 
exercise  are  doing  for  the  boy  physically;  and,  in- 
tellectually and  morally,  we  must  become  what  the 
boy,  at  last,  becomes  physically,  ere  we  are  fitted  for 
life,  and  prepared  to  "quit  us  like  men."  Three 
years  of  a  man's  work  is  worth  far  more  to  the 
world  than  many  years'  work  of  a  child.  Three 
years  of  work  wisely  done  is  better  than  fifteen 
years  of  unwise  work.  This  thought  is  so  impor- 
tant as  to  justify  a  repetition.  The  world  is  more 
benefited  by  three  years'  earnest  work  of  a  wise 


BY   JOHN   THE   BAPTIST.  307 

man  than  it  can  possibly  be  by  the  life-time  of  one 
who  goes  from  school  into  life  confident  that  the 
professors  have  furnished  all  that  is  necessary  for 
the  march  and  the  battle. 

If  there  ever  was  a  life  and  work  which  justified 
haste,  it  was  the  life  and  work  of  Jesus.  In  mo- 
ments of  careless  thinking  we  have  wished  that  he 
could  have  lived  longer,  or  commenced  his  public 
ministry  sooner.  But  the  time  of  his  work  was 
inconsiderable  in  contrast  with  the  time  of  prepa- 
ration for  it.  The  world  can  better  do  without  you, 
young  man,  for  years  to  come,  than  it  could  spare 
Jesus  all  the  eighteen  or  twenty  years  he  spent  in 
obscure  preparation.  And  the  world  will  be  the 
better,  and  you  the  happier,  if  you  will  lay  to  heart 
this  lesson  from  the  model  life,  and  think  upon  the 
important  duties  and  weighty  responsibilities  you 
are  expected  to  meet  and  discharge,  and  be  not  rash 
in  assuming  them,  but,  like  Jesus,  prepare  for  them, 
that  you  may  do  your  work,  and  exclaim,  at  the 
•close  of  your  life,  with  satisfaction  akin  to  his,  "  It 
is  finished." 

Let  us  now  come  to  the  study  of  the  words  of  the 
text  in  search  of  other  lessons  from  this  model  life. 
"  Suffer  it  to  be  so  now."  This  is  the  language  of 
one  who  "is  to  increase"  addressed  to  one  who  "is 
to  decrease."  To  John,  who  has  just  now  said  of  Je- 
sus, "  He  that  cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I, 
whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear" — to  John, 
who  thus  recognizes  himself  as  unworthy  to  be  even 
the  servant  of  Jesus,  does  Jesus  say,  "Suffer  it  to 
be  so  now."  These  are  strange  words.  "Suffer" — 


308  LESSONS   FROM    THE    BAPTISM   OF   JESUS 

what  is  its  meaning?  Used  in  this  way,  its  mean- 
ing is  this,  according  to  the  dictionaries:  Allow, 
permit,  do  not  forbid,  do  not  hinder.  But  there  is 
another  meaning  in  this  word  thus  used  by  Jesus, 
the  Model-man,  emerging  from  his  obscurity  and 
about  entering  upon  his  public  career,  which  is  to 
end  not  upon  the  cross  of  shame,  but  upon  the 
throne  of  universal  empire.  In  this  word  is  recog- 
nition of  John's  position  and  authority.  Here,  at 
the  very  threshold  of  his  wonderful  life,  Jesus  gives 
us  a  lesson  of  subordination. 

The  speaker  is  the  Son  of  God,  fully  conscious 
of  his  relationship,  and  of  his  consequent  inherent 
superiority  to  John,  and  of  the  greater  glory  of  the 
work  he  will  soon  begin;  for  all  this  John  has  de- 
clared, or  intimated,  and  Jesus  has  admitted;  never- 
theless, he  says  to  John,  "  Suiter  it  to  be  so  now." 
In  official  position  John  is  superior  now  to  Jesus, 
the  Son  of  man.  And  Jesus  recognizes  this  fact, 
and  would  not  have  John  forget  it,  or  ignore  it. 
Subordination,  therefore,  is  the  lesson  taught  us  in 
this  portion  of  the  text. 

Insubordination  appears  in  the  fatal  transaction 
of  Eden,  and  through  all  the  sighing  ages  since  it 
has  been  the  leading  evil  spirit  whose  wings  have 
eclipsed  the  light,  and  by  whom  individuals,  and 
families,  and  States,  and  nations,  have  been  led  into 
dissatisfaction,  and  rebellion,  and  grief.  The  disci- 
pline of  the  family  and  school  cannot  create  the 
spirit  of  subordination.  Ordinarily,  recognition  of 
parental  and  collegiate  authority  is  constrained. 
Though  outwardly  the  boy  may  be  submissive,  yet 


BY   JOHN   THE   BAPTIST.  309 

inwardly  he  chafes,  and  is  longing  for  the  time  when 
he  shall  be  his  own  man — independent  of  all  re- 
straint. It  is  not  a  willing,  cheerful  recognition  of 
authority,  and  submission  to  it,  that  exists,  and  are 
manifested  by  the  masses  of  young  people;  hence 
the  departure  in  after-life  from  old  land-marks  — 
hence  the  erratic  thoughts,  the  erratic  speeches,  and 
the  libertine-lives  of  many  who,  in  early  youth, 
seemed  observant  of  the  proprieties.  The  Apostle 
Paul  declares  that  the  carnal  mind  is  not  subject  to 
law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be.  Now,  it  appears 
evident  that,  if  we  will  not  recognize  the  authority 
of  God,  and  cheerfully  submit  to  do  and  to  be  what 
he  wills,  there  certainly  can  be  no  authority  which 
we  will  recognize,  and  no  law  that  we  will  obey,  but 
as  we  are  compelled.  But,  though  this  is  true,  and 
men,  natural  men,  still  aspire  to  be  as  gods,  that 
they  may  be  a  law  unto  themselves,  no  man  is  pre- 
pared to  work  among  men  and  for  men,  wisely  and 
efficiently,  until  he  has  learned  subordination.  We 
think,  therefore,  it  was  not  without  design  that  the 
first  revelation  Jesus  gives  us  of  the  spirit  of  his 
mind,  when  he  emerges  from  the  eighteen  years  of 
obscurity  spent  in  preparation  for  his  life's  work, 
is  in  this  recognition  of  the  superiority  of  John's 
present  position,  and  his  deference  to  him,  expressed 
in  the  words,  "  Suffer  it  to  be  so  now."  They  may 
be  thus  paraphrased  without  violence  to  the  truth 
in  outward  fact  or  inner  thought  of  Jesus  :  Suffer 
it  to  be  so  now.  It  may  be  true  that  thy  work  is 
nearly  done,  and  mine  is  about  to  commence.  Thou 
wilt  decrease,  I  shall  increase.  Thou  mayst  be  but  my 


310  LESSONS   FROM   THE   BAPTISM    OF  JESUS 

herald,  my  messenger  going  before  me;  but  I  am  a 
Jew,  thou  art  a  prophet,  teaching  and  baptizing  the 
Jews.  Thy  work  is  not  finished,  thine  office  is  not 
yet  passed  away.  My  work  is  not  begun,  I  have 
not  yet  entered  into  my  office.  I  recognize  thee  in 
thy  official  capacity,  and,  as  one  of  the  people — for 
as  yet  I  am  officially  nothing  more — I  come  to  thee 
for  baptism.  Suffer  it  to  be  so — recognize  thy  po- 
sition, magnify  thy  office,  and  baptize  me. 

This  important  lesson  of  the  text  escapes  the  ob- 
servation of  some,  it  is  to  be  feared,  because  they  do 
not  regard  that  which  Jesus  was  seeking  at  the 
hands  of  John  as  the  baptism  administered  to  the 
masses  of  the  Jewish  people,  but  an  induction  cer- 
emonially into  the  high-priesthood.  It  is  modestly 
suggested  that  there  is  no  hint  of  any  such  thing 
in  any  part  of  the  ministry  of  John,  nor  in  any  part 
of  the  conversation  between  him  and  Jesus.  There 
may  be  some  coincidences,  some  analogies,  between 
the  ceremonial  induction  into  the  priesthood,  under 
the  Jewish  economy,  and  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  and 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  him  afterward. 
But  these,  at  best,  fancied  resemblances  should  not 
lead  us  to  forget  that  it  was  to  John  the  Baptist 
that  Jesus  came.  John  claimed  no  such  office  as 
would  qualify  him  to  induct  any  one  into  the  priest- 
ly office.  His  work  was  clearly  defined.  Jesus  re- 
vealed to  him  no  new  work  that  was  expected  at 
his  hands.  That,  therefore,  which  was  asked  of 
John  was  baptism  —  nothing  more  —  and  it  must 
have  been  the  baptism  John  had  been  administer- 
ing to  other  Jews.  But  one  may  ask,  What  need 


BY  JOHN    THE    BAPTIST.  311 

had  Jesus  of  John's  baptism?  In  reply  it  may  he 
asked,  What  need  had  he  of  circumcision?  what 
need  of  an}  of  the  ritual  and  sacrificial  service  of 
the  temple?  This,  however,  would  be  trifling.  It 
is  repeating  about  Jesus  what  so  many  ask  about 
themselves:  What  need  have  I  of  this  ordinance? 
What  good  will  this  sacrament  do  me  ?  Cannot  I 
neglect  this  privilege,  or  pass  by  this  unpleasant 
duty,  without  damage?  O  how  common,  and  yet 
how  strange,  this  error!  The  question  is  not  of 
personal  need,  nor  of  personal  benefit  to  be  derived 
from  any  observance;  but  the  question,  all-impor- 
tant and  fateful,  is  of  duty.  John  at  Jordan  fell 
into  this  common  error.  He  had  cried,  Prepare  ye 
the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  make  his  paths  straight. 
He  bad  gathered  Jerusalem  and  all  Judea  to  his 
preaching,  and  had  baptized  multitudes,  turning 
away,  we  suppose,  no  applicant  for  baptism.  Now 
there  stands  before  him  a  Jew  who  has  been  strict 
to  observe  all  the  requirements  of  the  law.  This 
Jew  conies  to  him  recognizing  his  official  position, 
and  asking  baptism,  but  John  answers,  You  do  not 
need  to  be  baptized  of  me.  True,  I  have  baptized 
all  others  who  have  applied,  but  I  will  not  baptize 
you,  for  I  need  rather  to  be  baptized  of  you.  To 
which  Jesus  replies,  It  may  seem  strange  that  I 
should  ask,  and  improper  for  you  to  grant  me,  bap- 
tism; but  I  am  a  Jew,  and  if  it  were  your  duty  to 
administer  it  to  other  Jews,  and  it  was  their  duty 
to  ask  it,  then  is  it  my  duty  to  be  baptized,  and  your 
duty  to  baptize  me.  It  becomes  us  thus  to  fulfill  all 
righteousness,  I  have  been  obedient  in  all  else,  and 


312  LESSONS   FROM    THE   BAPTISM    OF   JESUS 

would  not  fail  in  this.  This  is  all  that  remains  of 
the  religions  rites  made  binding  by  God  upon  those 
who  would  be  prepared  for  that  kingdom  which 
you  have  been  declaring  to  be  at  hand.  Paul,  in 
Hebrews  v.,  recognizes  and  declares  this  feature  in 
the  life  of  Christ.  He  says:  "Christ  glorified  not 
himself  to  be  made  a  high-priest.  Though  he  were 
a  Son,  yet  learned  he  obedience." 

The  baptism  of  Jesus  by  John  is  then  an  example 
to  us — not  an  example  of  baptism,  not  a  model  of 
place  or  mode,  but  an  example  of  subordination, 
and  that  strict  obedience  which  flows  from  it. 

Whatever  the  ordinance  of  God,  we  should  not 
think  ourselves  exempt  from  its  observance  on  any 
consideration.  Whatever  the  requirement  of  the 
Church,  we  should  comply  with  it,  not  raising  the 
question  of  personal  need,  nor  asking  about  expedi- 
ency. It  is  always  proper  to  do  what  Heaven  re- 
quires when  we  can,  and  it  becomes  us  to  leave  no 
duty  unperformed,  no  privilege  unenjoyed.  Noth- 
ing of  Church-duty  was  neglected  by  Jesus.  And 
this  last  extraordinary  demand  upon  the  people  of 
God,  preparatory  to  the  revelation  of  the  Messiah, 
he  wished  to  meet.  Whether  he  knew  that  his 
baptism  would  be  followed  by  the  descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  public  recognition  and  declara- 
tion of  himself  by  the  Father,  is  a  question  with 
which  we  now  have  nothing  to  do.  We  know  that 
it  was  no  thought  of  this  which  prompted  him  to 
press  his  claim  for  baptism.  He  did  not  say  to  John, 
"  If  you  baptize  me,  the  Spirit  will  descend  upon 
me,  and  the  Father  will  reveal  my  true  nature  and 


BY  JOHN   THE   BAPTIST.  313 

work" — not  that,  but  simply  this:    "Thus  it  be- 
cometh  us  to  fulfill  all  righteousness." 

Let  this  be  to  us  sufficient  inducement  to  obey  all 
law,  to  use  all  means  of  grace.  It  becometh  us  thus 
to  fulfill  all  righteousness.  Duty  is  a  word  lost,  we 
fear,  to  many;  or  if  the  word  be  retained,  its  force, 
and  meaning,  and  application,  are  lost;  else  many 
of  the  excuses  with  which  they  attempt  to  salve 
wounded  consciences  would  appear  to  them  worse 
than  frivolous,  exceedingly  sinful.  Pleasure  hath 
no  rightful  place  in  opposition  to  duty.  Appear- 
ance hath  no  right  to  absolve  from  duty.  Loss 
or  gain  has  naught  to  do  in  the  question  of  duty. 
Suppose  we  do  not  feel  like  doing  some  particular 
Church-work — is  that  work,  therefore,  any  the  less 
important,  or  any  the  less  binding  upon  us?  Sup- 
pose it  is  not  pleasant — does  it  cease  to  be  duty  when 
it  becomes  unpleasant?  Suppose  it  appear  to  be 
unnecessary  and  unprofitable,  as  some  argue  the 
baptism  of  innocent  babes  to  be — is  it,  therefore,  not 
binding  upon  you?  Scripture  and  reason  unite  in 
answer:  With  duty  made  plain  in  statute  or  ordi- 
nance, or  temple  regulation,  or  extraordinarily,  as 
was  the  case  in  John's  baptism,  appearance  of  need- 
lessness  and  unprofitableness  has  naught  to  do  with 
the  decision  of  obedience  or  disobedience.  How  did 
it  appear  for  John  to  baptize  Jesus — baptize  unto 
repentance  one  who  was  without  sin,  and  his  supe- 
rior in  every  sense  save  official  .position?  It  matters 
not.  Appearances,  worldly  questions  of  propriety, 
and  human  questions  of  profit,  must  give  way  before 
duty.  It  is  John's  duty  to  baptize,  it  is  the  people's 
14 


314  LESSONS  FROM   THE   BAPTISM    OF   JESUS 

duty  to  be  baptized  by  him;  and  Jesus,  as  the  Son 
of  man,  and  the  Son  of  David,  stands  in  his  lot  with 
the  people  before  John  for  baptism. 

Let  us  not  turn  hurriedly  away  from  this  lesson 
of  subordination  and  obedience.  Here  is  the  open- 
ing of  a  model  life — here  is  the  beginning  of  a  reve- 
lation of  God's  ideal  of  a  perfect  man,  who  is  to 
master  all  things,  and  govern  all  things,  because  he 
is  worthy.  But  he  can  never  rule  others  who  has 
not  learned  to  govern  himself,  and  he  can  never 
know  how  to  govern  who  has  not  been  governed. 

"  Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers," 
an  inspired  injunction,  was  illustrated  and  enforced 
throughout  the  life  of  Jesus.  His  parents  complied 
with  the  law,  notwithstanding  the  peculiarity  ofhis 
conception  and  the  wonders  attending  his  birth,  and 
presented  him  for  circumcision ;  he  was  subject  unto 
his  parents;  at  twelve  years  of  age  he  sought  in- 
struction from  the  teachers  appointed  by  the  Church ; 
he  strictly  observed  all  the  requirements  of  the  law 
of  God,  and  all  the  regulations  of  temple  service,  and 
he  recognized  John  in  his  office,  and  received  bap- 
tism at  his  hands. 

Subordination  in  all  the  relations  of  life  was  thus 
taught  by  him  in  rendering  unto  Csesar  the  things 
that  were  Csesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that 
were  God's. 

The  third  lesson  we  find  in  the  baptism  of  Jesus 
is  one  of  encouragement. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  questions  of  expedi- 
ency have  no  rightful  place  in  the  decision  to  do  or 
not  to  do  duty.  "It  becometh  us  thus  to  fulfill  all 


BY  JOHN   THE   BAPTIST.  315 

righteousness"  will  be  sufficient  to  the  true  man — 
sufficient  in  the  face  of  inexpediency  or  of  useless- 
ness,  yea,  even  of  impropriety,  as  it  was  with  John 
and  Jesus.  But  this  is  so  not  without  reason.  Duty 
may  seem  to  be  unnecessary  and  unprofitable,  but 
it  is  not  so.  He  that  goeth  forth  bearing  precious 
seed,  though  he  may  go  weeping,  perplexed,  be- 
wildered, and  saddened  by  the  seeming  loss  of  time, 
and  labor,  and  treasure — going  forth  because  he  is 
bidden  to  go — shall  surely  return;  yea,  come  with 
rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him.  Duty  is 
never  inexpedient,  never  unnecessary,  never  un- 
profitable. A  man's  work  may  be  better  than  he 
supposes  it  to  be.  This  may  be  made  stronger  and 
fuller:  every  man's  work,  done  from  sense  of  duty, 
is  more  important  than  it  appears  to  him,  and  far 
more  fruitful  in  good  results  to  himself  and  others 
than  he  imagines  when  he  enters  upon  it  and  con- 
tinues in  it. 

Pharaoh's  daughter  knew  not  the  work  she  was 
doing  when  she  rescued  the  Hebrew  babe,  arid  pro- 
vided for  its  protection  and  instruction.  His  mother 
knew  not  the  work  she  was  doing  for  her  people 
and  the  world  when  she  trained  Moses  to  fear  God 
and  obey  his  word.  The  instructors  of  Luther  knew 
not  the  work  they  were  doing  for  the  enlightenment 
and  blessing  of  the  Church  and  the  world.  John 
knew  not  what  he  was  doing  when  he  baptized  Je- 
sus. His  objection  was  based  upon  his  Jewish  hope 
of  a  Messiah  who  would  reign  an  earthly  king,  and 
deliver  his  people  from  political  bondage.  The 
opening  heavens,  the  divine  voice,  the  words  spoken, 


316  LESSONS   FROM    THE   BAPTISM    OF   JESUS 

the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  Jesus,  were  all 
unexpected  revelations,  following  not  successively 
merely,  but  as  consequences  of  his  obedience  to  duty, 
which  had  seemed  unnecessary  and  unprofitable. 
Not  until  then  did  he  know,  and  probably  not 
otherwise  could  he  have  ever  known,  that  Jesus  is 
the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world. 

Father,  mother,  teacher,  minister  of  the  gospel, 
class-leader,  steward,  officer  and  teacher  in  the  Sun- 
day-school, to  you  may  come  the  words, "  Suft'er  it 
to  be  so  now."  What  is  required  of  you  in  your 
place  may  be  unpleasant,  or  difficult,  or  may  seem 
to  be  unnecessary  to  be  done,  or  vain  and  fruitless 
in  your  hands.  Are  you  in  your  place?  Then  do 
your  work;  do  it  despite  discouragements;  do  it  in 
the  face  of  failure  and  defeat;  do  it  though  your 
reason  may  whisper  it  is  useless  and  profitless. 
Fulfill  all  righteousness,  however  difficult  the  task 
or  disagreeable  the  duty;  if  a  subordinate,  submit; 
if  a  superior,  exercise  authority  and  execute  disci- 
pline. Let  nothing  turn  you  from  duty.  It  was  in 
discharge  of  duty,  by  fulfilling  all  righteousness, 
that  Joseph  passed  through  the  hands  of  envious 
brethren,  through  the  pit,  through  the  prison,  to 
the  second  place  in  Egypt,  and  became  the  blessing 
of  the  world.  It  was  in  the  line  of  duty  that  the 
wise  men  of  the  east  saw  the  herald-star  in  the  mid- 
night skies,  and  found  the  "  Desire  of  all  nations." 
It  was  in  the  place  and  performance  of  duty — on 
the  plains  watching  their  flocks — that  the  shepherds 
received  the  angelic  announcement  of  the  birth  of 


BY  JOHN   THE   BAPTIST.  317 

Jesus.  It  was  Simeon,  a  just  and  devout  man,  wait- 
ing in  the  temple  of  his  God  for  the  consolation  of 
Israel,  who  received  the  infant  Jesus  into  his  arms 
and  rejoiced.  To  them  who,  from  a  sense  of  duty, 
left  all  to  follow  Christ,  was  it  given  to  behold  the 
goings  forth  of  his  divinity  in  miracle-working 
power.  It  was  to  them  who  were  called  to  the 
privilege,  and  availed  themselves  of  it,  that  Jesua 
showed  his  glory  in  the  mount. 

It  was  Stephen,  falling  and  dying  under  a  shower 
of  stones,  hurled  upon  him  because  of  his  allegiance 
to  duty,  who  saw-  heaven  open  and  Jesus  sitting  on 
the  right-hand  of  God.  It  was  John,  banished  to 
Patmos  because  of  his  devotion  to  duty,  who  had 
presented  to  his  enraptured  spirit  grand  apocalyptic 
visions.  And  Jesus  hath  formulated  the  whole,  and 
made  this  cheering  truth  universal  in  its  application : 
"If  any  man"  —  that  brings  you,  reader,  old  or 
young,  wise  or  simple,  great  or  humble,  within  the 
circle  of  glory  upon  which  we  have  been  looking — 
"  If  any  man  will  do  his  will " — is  willing  to  do  his 
will — "  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be 
of  God." 

The  revelation  made  to  John  at  Jordan  is  not 
singular — his  experience  was  not  peculiar  to  him- 
self. The  heavens  open,  the  Spirit  descends,  and 
God  reveals  Jesus  to  all  his  dutiful  servants.  "  The 
secret  of  the  Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  him." 
Within  the  soul  of  him  who  "fulfills  all  righteous- 
ness" the  words  of  God  are  heard:  "This  is  my 
Son."  And  that  soul  rejoices  to  behold  the  Lamb 
of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 


XVII. 

FUTURE  RE  WARDS  AND  PUNISHMENTS. 

B  Y  BISHOP  KA  VA  NA  UGH. 

"And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,  but 
the  righteous  into  life  eternal."  Matt.  xxv.  46. 

OUR  subject  presents  us  with  the  solemn  and  final 
issues  of  our  entire  race,  which  are  made  to  turn 
upon  the  character  acquired  in  a  probationary  rela- 
tionship of  the  creature  to  the  Creator — as  one  has 
expressed  it,  "  The  great  day  of  dread  decision  and 
despair,"  in  regard  to  one  class;  and  it  may  be  add- 
ed with  respect  to  the  other  class,  a  day  when  hope 
meets  its  consummation,  and  bliss  its  perfection  and 
eternity. 

This  great  subject  is  introduced  and  delineated 
in  a  pretty  extended  discourse  of  our  Saviour,  in 
the  twenty-fourth  and  twenty-fifth  chapters  of  Mat- 
thew. In  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  he  describes 
the  then  coming  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  terms 
so  strong  and  high  as  to  intimate  the  destruction 
of  the  world.  In  allusion  to  the  destruction  of  the 
temple,  and  of  Jerusalem,  the  disciples  had  asked, 
"Tell  us  when  shall  these  things  be?  and  what 
shall  be  the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end  of 
the  world?"  He  answers  the  last  of  these  questions, 
concerning  the  end  of  the  world,  in  the  twenty-fifth 
chapter.  This  he  describes,  1.  By  the  parable  of 

(318) 


THE  REV.  BISHOP  H.  H.  KAVANAUGH,  D.D. 

Of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 


FUTURE   REWARDS    AND   PUNISHMENTS.  319 

the  ten  virgins;  2.  By  the  parable  of  the  talents; 
and,  3.  Without  a  parable  he  describes  the  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man :  "  When  the  Son  of  man  shall 
come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him, 
then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory;  and 
before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations;  and  he 
shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd 
divideth  his  sheep  from  the  goats;  and  he  shall  set 
the  sheep  on  his  right-hand,  but  the  goats  on  the 
left.  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his 
right-hand,  Corne,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world."  Then  follow  the  reasons  for  this  glo- 
rious invitation :  "  For  I  was  a  hungered,  and  ye 
gave  me  meat;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink; 
I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in;  naked,  and  ye 
clothed  me;  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me;  I  was  in 
prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me."  The  modest  right- 
eous, not  remembering  to  have  seen  their  Saviour 
in  all  this  variety  of  condition,  shall  inquire,  When 
saw  we  thee  thus  conditioned,  and  ministered  unto 
thee?  "And  the  King  shall  answer,  and  say  unto 
them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  have 
done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me.  Then  shall  he  also  say 
unto  them  on  the  left-hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye 
cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels.  For  I  was  a  hungered,  and  ye  gave 
me  no  meat;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  no 
drink;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not  in;  na- 
ked, and  ye  clothed  me  not.  Then  shall  they  also 
answer  him,  saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  a  hun- 


320  FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS. 

gered,  or  athirst,  or  a  stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or 
in  prison,  and  did  not  minister  unto  thee?  Then 
shall  he  answer  them,  saying,  Verily  I  say  nnto  you, 
Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these, 
ye  did  it  not  to  me."  Then  comes  the  language  of 
the  text,  "And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting 
punishment,  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal." 

Thus  coming  to  the  language  of  the  text,  we  pro- 
ceed to  the  discussion  of  the  points  suggested  by  the 
language  it  contains. 

I.  The  characteristics  of  the  subjects  under  the 
judgment  process. 

1.  The  points  to  be  established  by  the  facts  of  the 
case. — The  grand  point  on  which  the  decision  turns 
is,  Have  you  loved  the  King  now  on  the  judgment- 
seat?  The  evidence  taken  in  the  case  are  the  works 
done  by  the  parties.  In  Matt.  xii.  36,  37,  we  read, 
"But  I  say  unto  you,  That  every  idle  word  that 
men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in 
the  day  of  judgment.  For  by  thy  words  thou  shalt 
be  justified,  and  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  con- 
demned." 

The  justification  presented  in  this  passage,  and  in 
others  that  will  be  adduced,  is  taken  in  a  second 
sense  in  the  work  of  our  salvation.  Where  the 
question  of  pardon  is  concerned,  faith  is  the  only 
and  indispensable  condition  of  justification  —  as 
unbelief  is  the  ground  of  condemnation  —  damna- 
tion to  the  unbeliever;  because,  while  faith  accepts 
and  appropriates  the  great  provisions  of  salvation 
in  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,  unbelief  rejects  all 
the  love, blood,  suffering,  and  glorious,  godlike  work 


FUTURE   REWARDS    AND    PUNISHMENTS.  321 

of  triumphs  over  sin,  death,  and  devils,  and  cuts 
off  all  the  possibilities  of  salvation;  for  St.  Paul 
informs  us,  in  Heb.  xi.  6,  "Without  faith  it  is  im- 
possible to  please  him." 

The  justification  we  now  have  under  considera- 
tion is  the  evidence  offered  in  works  of  the  genu- 
ineness of  our  Christian  pretensions — the  reality  of 
our  faith  and  love.  It  is  affirmed  that  faith  works 
by  love,  and  purifies  the  heart.  On  this  subject 
James  (ii.  14-18)  speaks  with  force  and  point: 
"  What  doth  it  profit,  my  brethren,  though  a  man 
say  he  hath  faith,  and  have  not  works?  can  faith 
save  him?  If  a  brother  or  sister  be  naked,  and  des- 
titute of  daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them, 
Depart  in  peace,  be  ye  warmed  and  filled;  notwith- 
standing ye  give  them  not  those  things  which  are 
needful  to  the  body,  what  doth  it  profit?  Even  so 
faith,  if  it  hath  not  works,  is  dead,  being  alone. 
Yea,  a  man  may  say,  Thou  hast  faith,  and  I  have 
works  :  show  me  thy  faith  without  thy  works,  and 
I  will  show  thee  my  faith  by  my  works."  This  is 
a  forcible  way  of  putting  the  question,  as  it  is  im- 
possible to  show  faith  without  adequate  evidence, 
and  we  can  see  faith  only  through  works.  The 
apostle  proceeds:  "But  wilt  thou  know,  O  vain 
man,  that  faith  without  works  is  dead?"  He  then 
adduces,  as  a  fine  illustration,  the  case  of  Abraham 
in  the  offering  of  his  son  :  "  Was  not  Abraham  our 
father  justified  by  works,  when  he  had  offered  Isaac 
his  son  upon  the  altar?  Seest  thou  how  faith 
wrought  with  his  works,  and  by  works  was  faith 
made  perfect?" 
14* 


322  FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS. 

Abraham  was  justified  by  faith  when,  despite  the 
circumstances,  he  believed  that  Isaac  would  be  born, 
and  that  specific  act  of  his  faith  was  counted  to  him 
for  righteousness  in  the  sense  of  pardon.  It  is  gen- 
erally estimated  that  it  was  twenty-four  or  twenty- 
five  years  afterward  when  he  was  called  upon  to 
sacrifice  Isaac  as  a  burnt  -  offering  on  the  altar. 
Abraham's  faith  was  still  living,  and  he  gave  a  sub- 
lime illustration  of  it  when,  without  hesitation  or 
remonstrance,  he  proceeded  to  the  awful  work;  and 
though  the  promise  of  God  concerning  the  prom- 
ised seed  was  involved,  in  whom  the  hopes  of  the 
world  were  placed,  yet  he  asks  no  questions,  sug- 
gests no  incongruities,  makes  no  pauses  on  the  path 
of  duty,  though  he  thought  of  the  covenanted  seed, 
and  appreciated  the  blessings  for  the  world  con- 
tained in  him;  for  his  faith,  reposing  in  the  veracity 
and  power  of  God,  believed  that  though  he  should 
burn  Isaac  to  ashes,  he  would  raise  him  up,  and 
fully  redeem  all  that  was  in  that  broad  promise, 
that  proposed  the  highest  blessings  for  all  nations, 
and  all  the  families,  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Here 
was  splendid  work,  but  it  was  faith  that  made  it 
perfect — faith  wrought  with  the  work. 

These  quotations  show  the  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion before  men  in  this  life,  and  before  God  at  the 
day  of  judgment,  not  by  the  merit,  but  by  the  evi- 
dence, of  good  works.  I  may  add  that  an  obedient 
life  is  evidence  to  ourselves.  1  John  v.  2,  3:  "By 
this  we  know  that  we  love  the  children  of  God, 
when  we  love  God  and  keep  his  commandments. 
For  this  is  the  love  of  God,  that  we  keep  his  com- 


FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS.  323 

mandments;  and  his  commandments  are  not  griev- 
ous." 

Then,  at  the  day  of  judgment,  there  is  nothing 
said  about  repentance,  faith,  pardon,  regeneration, 
adoption,  sanctification,  orthodoxy,  or  heterodoxy, 
but  of  such  conduct  as  shall  prove  that  we  love  God. 
To  love  God,  or  not  to  love  God,  then,  decides  the 
destiny  of  those  before  the  final  Judge. 

Since  this  principle  of  love  to  God  holds  so  con- 
trolling a  position  in  the  destiny  of  our  race,  let  us 
look  into  the  nature  and  character  of  the  principle. 
The  Saviour  says  of  it,  as  exercised  toward  God  and 
man,  according  to  the  standards  he  specifies,  that  on 
it  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets.  The  Apostle 
Paul  says,  "  Tlie  end  of  the  commandment  is  char- 
ity out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a  good  conscience, 
and  of  faith  unfeigned."  Again  he  says,  "It  work- 
eth  no  ill  to  his  neighbor ;  therefore  love  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law."  Again,  "  Owe  no  man  any  thing, 
but  to  love  one  another;  for  he  that  loveth  another 
hath  fulfilled  the  law." 

The  moral  quality  of  an  act  lies  in  the  intention. 
Love  cannot  intend  harm  to  its  object,  and  hence 
it  regulates  all  the  aims  of  the  mind.  Hence,  in  1 
Cor.  xiii.  4-8,  the  apostle  says,  "Charity  suffereth 
long,  and  is  kind;  charity  envieth  not;  charity 
vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up.  Doth  not  be- 
have itself  unseemly,  seeketh  not  her  own,  is  not 
easily  provoked,  thinketh  no  evil;  rejoiceth  not  in 
iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth;  beareth  all 
things,  belie veth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  en- 
dureth  all  things.  Charity  never  faileth."  In  an- 


324  FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS. 

other  Epistle  the  apostle,  after  exhorting  to  the  ob- 
servance of  some  important  duties,  adds,  "And  above 
all  these  things  put  on  charity,  which  is  the  bond 
of  perfectness."  This  principle  springs  from  God, 
belongs  to  holy  angels,  is  imparted  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  regenerated  men,  maintains  the  harmony 
of  heaven,  prompts  all  holy  spirits  to  the  adoration 
and  praise  of  God.  It  is  a  principle  of  loyalty  to 
the  Sovereign  of  the  universe,  and  therefore  must 
forever  be  maintained.  It  is  a  principle  that  God 
must  approve,  and  bless  forever. 

This  is  the  grace  must  live  and  sing 

When  faith  and  hope  shall  cease, 
Must  sound  from  every  joyful  string 

Through  the  sweet  groves  of  bliss. 

It  is  joyful  to  think  of  heaven,  "where  all  the 
loul  is  love" — where  every  spirit  is  filled  and  fired 
with  a  joyful  consciousness  of  a  free  and  full  fel- 
lowship with  God,  with  the  angels  that  kept  their 
first  estate,  and  with  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect — where  God  is  known  to  be  love,  and  where 
all  heaven  is  filled  with  the  blessings  which  love 
imparts,  forever  flowing  from  the  infinitude  of  God. 
It  is  enough  to  make  the  adoring  minds  of  heaven 
burst  with  the  thunder  of  eternal  praise,  saying, 
"Alleluia!  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth!" 

Love  is  the  fairest  flower  that  blows, 

Its  beauties  never  die ; 
On  earth  among  the  saints  it  grows, 

And  ripens  in  the  sky. 

So  much  for  that  great  principle,  the  proof  of 
having  which  is  required  at  the  last  great  day. 


FUTURE    REWARDS    AND    PUNISHMENTS.  325 

II.  Our  second  point  for  consideration  is  the 
character  and  duration  of  the  punishment  and  the 
reward  proposed  in  the  text. 

The  text  uses  the  words  "  everlasting  punish- 
ment" and  "life  eternal."  The  Greek  Testament 
uses  the  same  word  for  the  duration  of  punishment 
and  reward,  hence  the  one  is  as  long  as  the  other. 

God,  by  all  the  force  of  motive,  has  labored  to 
prevent  sin,  and  hence  his  legislation  has  moved 
upon  the  deepest  feelings  and  the  most  enduring 
interests  of  mankind.  To  keep  Adam  in  a  state  of 
blessedness  and  life,  God  gave  him  an  Eden-home, 
abundantly  furnished,  as  it  is  stated  in  Gen  ii.  8,  9: 
"And  the  Lord  God  planted  a  garden  eastward  in 
Eden ;  and  there  he  put  the  man  whom  he  had 
formed.  And  out  of  the  ground  made  the  Lord 
God  to  grow  every  tree  that  is  pleasant  to  the  sight, 
and  good  for  food;  the  tree  of  life  also  in  the  midst 
of  the  garden,  and  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil."  Thus  furnished,  and  also  blest  with  the 
visits  and  association  of  his  infinite  Maker,  he  had 
all  the  elements  of  physical  and  mental  happiness. 
A  holy  and  good  God  must  design  this  happy  con- 
dition. The  point  of  danger  in  the  man  was  the 
fact  that  he  was  made  a  free  moral  agent.  He  had 
intelligence  enough  to  perceive  his  relations  and 
feel  his  obligations.  To  enforce  these  obligations, 
his  Maker  gave  him  a  positive  law  and  a  moral  fac- 
ulty to  feel  its  force,  and  the  power  of  the  will  to 
determine  for  or  against  his  duties;  and,  to  keep  him 
to  his  obligations,  he  fixed  a  fearful  penalty  to  the 
transgression  of  the  law.  The  death -penalty  was 


326  FUTURE    REWARDS   AND    PUNISHMENTS. 

the  greatest  barrier  that  could  be  raised  against 
allurement  or  temptation.  To  intensify  the  death- 
penalt}r,  the  Lord  has  called  our  attention  to  what 
he  has  set  before  us  in  Deut.  xxx.  19,  20:  "I  call 
heaven  and  earth  to  record  this  day  against  you, 
that  I  have  set  before  you  life  and  death,  blessing 
and  cursing;  therefore  choose  life,  that  both  thou 
and  thy  seed  may  live;  that  thou  mayest  love  the 
Lord  thy  God,  and  that  thou  mayest  obey  his  voice, 
and  that  thou  mayest  cleave  unto  him;  for  he  is 
thy  life,  and  the  length  of  thy  days." 

The  appalling  penalty  of  death  and  cursing  does 
God  interpose  to  keep  us  from  sinning.  And  the 
whole  book  of  God  keeps  this  fearful  warning  be- 
fore us,  saying,  "  The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die." 
"  The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  And  in  the  fervor  of  his 
love  to  us  he  follows  us  on  our  way  to  death,  crying 
out,  "As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure  in 
the  death  of  the  wicked,  but  that  the  wicked  turn 
from  his  way  and  live.  Turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your 
evil  ways,  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel?" 

To  escape  this  penalty,  and  avoid  a  hell,  the  Uni- 
versalists  generally  try  so  to  interpret  the  language 
of  the,  New  Testament  as  to  destroy  the  common 
idea  entertained  of  hell,  by  criticisms  on  the  orig- 
inal words  which  have  been  translated  hell  in  our 
English  version  of  the  Scriptures. 

I  have  lately  read,  with  much  satisfaction  and 
edification,  a  work  of  Bishop  S.  M.  Merrill,  D.D., 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  on  "  The  JSTew 
Testament  Idea  of  Hell."  I  shall  avail  myself  of 
some  of  his  critical  remarks  on  those  Bible-terms: 


FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS.  327 

The  Old  Testament  word  Sheol  is  used  with  some  latitude 
of  meaning  and  application.  It,  however,  always  relates  to 
the  state  of  the  dead,  unless  used  in  a  metaphorical  sense  of 
something  in  this  world;  but  sometimes  it  expresses  the  state 
of  the  body,  and  at  other  times  of  the  soul.  It  does  not  ex- 
press duration.  It  means,  in  general,  the  unseen  world — the 
state  of  departed  souls.  It  is  not  the  decisive  word  in  this 
discussion,  and  its  use  will  occupy  but  little  of  our  attention. 

Tartarus  occurs  but  once  in  the  Scriptures,  and  will  require 
but  brief  consideration.  It  is  found  in  2  Pet.  ii.  4:  "  For  if 
God  spared  not  the  angels  that  sinned,  but  cast  them  down 
to  hell  [Tartarus],  and  delivered  them  into  chains  of  dark- 
ness, to  be  reserved  unto  judgment,"  etc.  It  is  the  prison  of 
the  fallen  angels. 

Hades  is  a  more  important  word.  It  occurs  eleven  times 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  is  translated  "hell"  ten  times, 
and  "grave"  once.  It  is  the  Greek  equivalent  for  the  He- 
brew Sheol.  When  a  passage  is  quoted  in  the  New  Testament 
from  the  Old,  containing  Sheol,  it  is  rendered  Hades.  There 
is  no  disagreement  among  scholars  as  to  the  meaning  of  Hades. 
Some  difference  of  application  may  be  found,  but,  upon  the 
whole,  there  is  substantial  agreement.  This  fact  renders  our 
task  comparatively  easy,  so  far  as  the  word  is  concerned.  It 
means  the  unseen  world,  the  place  of  departed  souls,  and  ex- 
presses nothing  as  to  their  character  or  condition.  It  always 
relates  to  the  soul  in  a  disembodied  state,  and  never  to  the 
body  ;  so  that  it  should  never  be  rendered  grave.  There  are 
other  Greek  words  that  express  the  receptacle  of  the  dead 
body,  such  as  are  rendered  grave,  tomb,  sepulcher,  etc.,  but 
this  word  has  no  such  meaning,  and  admits  of  nothing  mate- 
rial. Hence,  its  true  and  only  application  is  to  the  state  of 
the  dead  between  death  and  the  resurrection.  This  point  is 
to  be  emphasized  in  this  treatise. 

Gehenna  is  the  next  word.  It  occurs  in  the  New  Testament 
twelve  times,  and  with  a  single  exception  (James  iii.  6,  where 
it  is  used  metaphorically)  it  occurs  in  the  discourse  of  our 
Lord  alone.  It  related  to  the  Jews  primarily,  and  would  only 
be  understood  by  them.  Here,  also,  there  is  substantial 


328  FUTURE    REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS. 

agreement  among  scholars.  The  origin  and  meaning  of  the 
word  are  not  in  dispute.  It  is  composed  of  two  Hebrew  words 
which  together  mean  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  This  was  a  place 
in  the  valley  south  of  Jerusalem,  once  the  seat  of  idolatrous 
worship,  where  stood  the  image  of  Moloch,  where  the  Canaan- 
ites,  and  afterward  the  Israelites,  in  their  backslidden  state, 
performed  the  cruel  rites  that  distinguished  the  worship  of 
that  monstrous  idol.  King  Josiah  destroyed  this  worship, 
and  polluted  the  place,  so  that  it  became  the  receptacle  of 
the  filth  of  the  city.  In  the  Old  Testament  it  was  also  called 
Tophet,  in  allusion  to  the  beating  of  drums  that  was  kept  up 
during  the  worship  of  Moloch.  The  name  of  this  place  be- 
came the  synonym  of  all  that  was  opposed  to  God,  and  hate- 
ful to  his  people,  and  very  naturally  came  into  use  to  express 
the  Jewish  idea  of  the  punishment  of  the  enemies  of  God 
after  death.  In  this  condition  of  things,  and  in  this  sense, 
our  Saviour  used  Gehenna,  with  reference  to  the  ultimate  pun- 
ishment of  the  wicked.  Its  use  comes  nearer  to  the  mean- 
ing which  the  popular  sentiment  attached  to  the  English 
word  hell  than  does  any  other  of  the  terms  so  translated,  and 
yet  it  is  a  proper  name — the  name  of  a  place  well  known — 
and  should  have  been  transferred,  and  not  translated.  The 
discussion  of  this  word  has  reference  not  to  its  origin,  history, 
or  meaning,  but  to  its  application.  The  questions  raised  are 
as  to  whether  the  Saviour  used  it  literally  or  figuratively,  and 
whether  he  designed  it  to  apply  to  punishment  in  this  world 
or  the  next  world. 

It  is  certain,  from  the  above  scrutiny  of  these 
words,  as  made  by  the  Bishop,  that  the  Saviour 
used  the  term  Gehenna  in  a  figurative  sense,  apply- 
ing it  to  future  punishment;  but  he  sums  up  a  re- 
view of  his  criticism  of  these  words  in  the  following 
manner: 

Here,  then,  is  the  arrangement  to  be  observed :  Sheol  is 
translated  by  Hades;  and  Hades  being  the  New  Testament 
word,  we  take  it  in  the  truest  sense  as  applying  to  the  invisi- 


FUTURE    REWARDS    AND    PUNISHMENTS.  329 

ble  world,  the  state  of  the  dead  between  death  and  the  resur- 
rection, and  never  to  any  thing  beyond  the  resurrection. 
Tartarus  is  another  word  for  the  same  thing,  with  only  the 
difference  that  it  is  the  prison  of  the  fallen  angels  this  side 
of  the  judgment.  It  is,  therefore,  substantially  the  same  as 
Hades,  and  may  be  considered  as  a  part  of  Hades.  In  other 
words,  Hades  covers  the  entire  ground  this  side  of  the  resur- 
rection. Gehenna  applies  to  nothing  till  Hades  is  past.  It 
relates  to  the  period  beyond  the  resurrection  and  the  judg- 
ment— the  final  state.  This  is  the  true  distinction,  and  it  is 
certainly  plain,  and  easily  comprehended,  and  quite  as  easily 
demonstrated. 

This  well-stated  position  of  Bishop  Merrill  brings 
the  intermediate  state  impressively  before  us,  and 
inclines  us  to  look  after  our  condition  during  so 
protracted  a  period.  Fortunately  for  us,  it  appears 
pretty  clear  that,  though  it  may  not  be  our  final 
state,  nor,  as  Christians,  the  best  state  we  have  in 
prospect,  yet  we  think  that  there  is  a  very  glorious 
heaven,  as  well  as  a  fearful  state  of  punishment,  in 
the  intermediate  state. 

The  Saviour  called  that  Paradise  in  which  he  and 

<& 

the  penitent  thief  were  that  day  to  meet.  Paul, 
when  taken  up  into  the  third  heaven,  calls  the  place 
Paradise,  and,  from  his  account  of  it,  it  is  an  over- 
whelmingly glorious  place ;  for  when  he  writes  about 
it,  fourteen  years  after  its  occurrence,  he  had  not 
settled  the  question  "  whether  he  was  in  the  body 
or  out  of  the  body."  So  intensely  charmed  was  he 
by  the  grand  disclosures  of  the  place,  both  to  sight 
and  hearing,  he  "heard  unspeakable  words,"  and 
the  translators  make  him  say,  "not  lawful  for  a 
man  to  utter."  The  marginal  reading  is,  "  not  pos- 
sible for  &  man  to  utter;"  and  with  the  marginal 


330  FUTURE    REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS. 

reading  the  commentators  generally  concur.  It 
was  above  what  human  language  has  the  power  of 
expressing.  Then  what  a  glorious  destiny  awaits 
the  child  of  God,  even  in  the  intermediate  state! 
In  the  view  of  this,  the  apostle  is  well  sustained 
when  he  says  that,  "  For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and 
to  die  is  gain.  For  I  am  in  a  strait  betwixt  two, 
having  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better."  Phil.  i.  21,  23.  And  again, 
2  Cor.  v.  1-4:  "For  we  know  that,  if  our  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have 
a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens.  For  in  this  we  groan,  ear- 
nestly desiring  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our  house 
which  is  from  heaven ;  if  so  be  that  being  clothed  we 
shall  not  be  found  naked.  For  we  that  are  in  this 
tabernacle  do  groan,  being  burdened;  not  for  that 
we  would  be  unclothed,  but  clothed  upon,  that  mor- 
tality might  be  swallowed  up  of  life." 

These  declarations  clearly  indicate  that  when  the 
earthly  house — the  body  of  man — is  laid  aside,  the 
soul  maintains  its  consciousness;  and  the  language 
suggests  that  the  soul  passes  into  some  sort  of  spir- 
itual incasement,  that  it  might  be  clothed  upon,  and 
not  be  naked.  And  this  cluster  of  passages  farther 
indicate  a  heavenly  locality  so  rich  in  its  resources 
as  to  be  called  *«  The  Paradise  of  God."  These 
passages  conduct  us  to  the  conclusion  that  in  the 
intermediate  state  and  in  the  bosom  of  Abraham 
there  is  a  large  comfort. 

In  this  intermediate  state  there  is  also  a  terrible 
amount  of  suffering.  In  the  parable  of  the  rich 


FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISUMEJJTS.  331 

man  and  the  beggar,  as  given  in  Luke  xvi.  22-25,  it  is 
stated:  "And  it  came  to  pass  that  the  beggar  died, 
and  was  carried  by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bo- 
som; the  rich  man  also  died,  and  was  buried;  and 
in  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments,  and 
seeth  Abraham  afar  oft',  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom. 
And  he  cried  and  said,  Father  Abraham,  have  mer- 
cy on  me,  and  send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the 
tip  of  his  finger  in  water,  and  cool  my  tongue;  for 
I  am  tormented  in  this  flame.  But  Abraham  said, 
Son,  remember  that  thou  in  thy  life-time  receivedst 
thy  good  things,  and  likewise  Lazarus  evil  things; 
but  now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  tormented." 
Here  are  two  individuals  that  pass  into  the  inter- 
mediate state,  and  one  is  comforted,  and  the  other 
tormented.  The  comfort  of  Lazarus  was  such  as 
Paradise  could  afford,  which  doubtless  was  of  a 
very  great  character;  and  were  he  to  describe  the 
case,  he  would  likely  find  the  language  of  the  apos- 
tle important  to  his  task.  The  rich  man  confesses 
himself  tormented  in  a  flame,  and  begs  a  drop  of 
water  to  cool  his  tongue.  This  suffering  is  aggra- 
vated by  the  fact  that  he  obtains  no  relief,  and  is 
reminded  that  in  his  life-time  he  had  his  good  things 
and  Lazarus  his  evil  things — he  is  now  tormented, 
and  Lazarus  comforted.  His  farther  information 
is  sadly  discouraging.  The  Saviour  adds  :  "And 
beside  all  this,  between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great 
gulf  fixed;  so  that  they  which  would  pass  from 
hence  to  you  cannot,  neither  can  they  pass  to  us 
that  would  come  from  thence." 

This  intermediate  state,  then,  has  place  and  con- 


332  FUTURE    REWARDS   AND    PUNISHMENTS. 

dition.  The  condition  is  "comfort  and  punishment, 
or  torment."  The  places  are  divided  by  an  "  im- 
passable gulf."  A  poor  prospect  for  the  exchange 
of  places.  The  language  may  be  figurative  or  lit- 
eral —  in  either  case  I  think  the  sense  is  not 
changed. 

The  rich  man,  despairing  for  himself,  then  makes 
a  feeling  and  affecting  appeal  to  Abraham  in  behalf 
of  his  five  brothers  yet  at  his  father's  house,  and 
says,  "  I  pray  thee  therefore,  father,  that  thou 
wouldest  send  him  to  my  father's  house;  for  I  have 
five  brethren;  that  he  may  testify  unto  them,  lest 
they  also  come  into  this  place  of  torment."  How 
affecting  that  the  lost  in  perdition  should  be  entreat- 
ing for  those  who  are  neglecting  their  opportuni- 
ties! And  how  solemn  and  impressive  is  the  an- 
swer of  Abraham!  "Abraham  saith  unto  him,  They 
have  Moses  and  the  prophets;  let  them  hear  them. 
And  he  said,  Nay,  father  Abraham;  but  if  one  went 
unto  them  from  the  dead,  they  will  repent."  O  let 
the  living  hear  this  voice  from  the  dead,  and  repent! 
But  how  true  it  is,  as  Abraham  affirms:  "And  he 
said  unto  him,  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  proph- 
ets, neither  will  they  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose 
from  the  dead." 

To  the  doctrine  of  future  and  eternal  punishment 
Universalists  have  offered  various  systems  of  escape. 
They  have  hell -redemption  —  no  hell  at  all  —  God 
saving  from  his  great  mercy — his  love  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  sovereignty,  making  every  man  holy  and 
happy.  If  it  shall  appear  that  for  their  sinfulness 
some  men  or  persons  are  finally  lost,  when  all  the 


FUTURE   REWARDS    AND    PUNISHMENTS.  333 

methods  of  salvation  are  exhausted,  or  done  away, 
then  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  is  not  true. 

Except  the  doctrine  of  a  final  restoration  from 
hell-torments,  every  other  system  of  Universalism 
proposes  the  salvation  of  the  sinner  this  side  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead  and  of  the  final  judgment. 
To  settle  the  question  clearly,  we  must  follow  up 
the  sinner  to  the  final  close  of  the  case,  and  see  what 
his  destiny  is.  Well,  when  the  resurrection  occurs, 
the  judgment  ensues,  as  we  have  already  seen  in 
the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Matthew.  There  are  the 
sheep  and  the  goats — the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
— all  nations — all  that  are  in  their  graves — the  just 
and  the  unjust.  The  decisive  sentence  is  pro- 
nounced in  strong,  clear,  and  well-defined  terms. 
And  it  is  the  last  thing  done  on  that  fearful  occa- 
sion. There  is  nothing  else,  affecting  the  human 
family,  said  or  done  to  secure  salvation.  The  sol- 
emn and  fearful  doom  of  the  wicked  is  to  a  lake  of 
fire  and  brimstone,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels.  Let  Uuiversalists,  or  any  others,  find  a  de- 
liverance from  this  awful  doom,  which  is  styled  the 
second  death,  and  they  will  teach  the  world  more 
than  they  ever  learned  before. 

Some  startled  minds  shrink  from  this  awful  sen- 
tence, and  affirm  that  they  cannot  believe  this  of  a 
good  and  merciful  God;  but  they  should  remember 
that,  in  a  wicked  and  persistent  abuse  of  their  free 
agency,  they  forced  our  merciful,  loving,  and  gra- 
cious God,  to  the  reluctant  necessity  of  pronouncing 
this  fearful  doom  upon  them.  God,  in  his  good- 
ness, had  "  wooed,  blessed,  and  chastised  them,  and 


334  FUTURE   REWARDS   AND    PUNISHMENTS. 

still  they  were  rebels  amidst  the  thunders  of  his 
throne."  It  is  stated  in  Prov.  i.  24-30:  "Because 
I  have  called,  and  ye  refused;  I  have  stretched  out 
my  hand,  and  no  man  regarded;  but  ye  have  set  at 
naught  all  my  counsel,  and  would  none  of  my  re- 
proof; I  also  will  laugh  at  your  calamity;  I  will 
mock  when  your  fear  cometh;  when  your  fear  com- 
eth as  desolation,  and  your  destruction  cometh  as  a 
whirlwind;  when  distress  and  anguish  cometh  upon 
you.  Then  shall  they  call  upon  me,  but  I  will  not 
answer ;  they  shall  seek  me  early,  but  they  shall 
not  find  me ;  for  that  they  hated  knowledge,  and 
did  not  choose  the  fear  of  the  Lord;  they  would 
none  of  my  counsel;  they  despised  all  my  reproof." 
Here  is  a  stubborn  fight  against  all  the  efforts  of 
the  God  of  goodness  and  love,  and,  never  yielding, 
he  "  will  laugh  at  your  calamity  r  and  mock  when 
your  fear  cometh."  All  this  time  thou  "  treasurest 
up  to  thyself  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  and 
revelation  of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God,  who 
will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds." 
Rom.  ii.  5.  Under  such  persistent  rebellion  against 
all  these  efforts  to  save  the  rebel,  what  could  God 
do,  as  the  Governor  of  the  race,  but  execute  the 
penalty  of  his  violated  law?  No  wonder  that  in 
the  resurrection  we  should  find  such  characters 
described  in  the  language  of  the  Prophet  Daniel 
(xii.  2) :  "Arid  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust 
of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life, 
and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt." 
Here  is  the  resurrection,  and  all  the  time  of  the 
soul-saving  process  of  the  Universalist  (except  that 


FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS.  335 

of  the  hell-redemptionist)  is  past,  and  souls  standing 
before  you,  risen  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt. 
What  an  awful  resurrection  this!  To  shame! 
Shame  is  one  of  the  most  unmanning  passions  that 
ever  comes  over  the  soul  of  a  man.  It  recognizes 
a  deep  sense  of  degrading  personal  guilt.  The  per- 
son stands  self-condemned,  and  perhaps  it  is  the 
loyal  angels  of  glory,  and  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect,  that  pour  upon  this  quailing  spirit 
of  guilt  the  contempt  due  to  the  rejecter  of  the  sal- 
vation prepared  at  so  great  a  price,  and  offered  as  a 
gift  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Shame 
in  one's  self,  and  a  burning  contempt  from  all  that 
is  wise,  and  good,  and  pure,  with  the  everlasting 
appended  to  it,  is  a  fearful  damnation,  from  which 
may  God  save  the  poor  sinner! 

In  view  of  the  awful  condition  of  the  sinner 
doomed  to  so  dreadful  a  punishment,  I  have  started 
in  my  mind  the  inquiry:  "  May  there  not  be  a  sec- 
ond probation  in  which  the  sinner  may  return  to 
God,  receive  pardon,  and  enter  into  rest?"  But  I 
know  nothing  in  the  Scriptures  to  authorize  such  a 
hope,  or  prospect.  The  Bible  idea  is,  the  judgment 
turns  upon  the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  on  the  testi- 
mony of  the  works  we  have  performed  in  time;  and 
the  case  is  finally  settled  here,  and  on  this  ground. 
The  sentence  here  rendered  settles  the  case  for  eter- 
nity. "As  the  tree  falls  so  must  it  lie."  We  are 
told  in  Rev.  xxii.  10-12:  "  The  time  is  at  hand.  He 
that  is  unjust,  let  him  be  unjust  still;  and  he  which 
is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy  still ;  and  he  that  is  right- 
eous, let  him  be  righteous  still;  and  he  that  is  holy, 


336  FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS. 

let  him  be  holy  still.  And,  behold,  I  come  quickly; 
and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give  every  man  ac- 
cording as  his  work  shall  be." 

Bishop  Merrill  says,  "  Death  stereotypes  charac- 
ter; the  purgatorial  probation  of  Romanism  is  a 
myth;  prayer  for  the  dead  is  a  cheat." 

The  idea  of  a  second  probation  is  rather  discour- 
aged by  the  fact  that  sinners  with  whom  God  has 
great  forbearance  and  long-suffering  grow  harder, 
more  indifferent  to  religion,  become  settled  in  hab- 
its of  neglect,  also  a  habit  of  indulgence  in  sin  which 
they  persuade  themselves  that  they  cannot  break, 
and  by  neglect  of  duty  on  one  hand,  and  hardening 
in  sin  on  the  other,  they  become  vessels  fitted  to 
destruction;  and  thus  may  so  provoke  the  wrath 
of  God  that  he  may  swear  in  his  wrath  that  they 
shall  not  enter  into  his  rest. 

To  overcome  this  indisposition  to  obedience  to 
God  they  have  him  to  exert  his  almighty  power  to 
make  them  holy,  that  they  may  be  happy.  It  is  in- 
congruous, in  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  that  God 
should  make  a  free  moral  agent,  and  then  control 
him  as  though  he  had  no  such  agency.  Again,  if 
God  be  so  disregardful  of  free  moral  agency,  why 
did  he  not  interpose  his  almighty  power  to  prevent 
the  occurrence  of  sin?  To  have  prevented  the  oc- 
currence of  sin  would  have  saved  a  world  of  woe 
in  this  world,  and  also  the  deeper  sorrows  of  the 
world  to  come,  on  the  part  of  transgressors.  It 
would  have  saved  himself  the  sacrifice  of  his  Son — 
his  life  of  humiliation,  suffering,  and  death,  to  save 
the  involved;  but  such  a  procedure  would  contradict 


FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS.  337 

every  rational  idea  of  a  moral  government,  consist- 
ing of  law,  motive,  persuasion,  threats,  and  penal- 
ties— the  will  of  the  agent — rewards  and  punish- 
ments—  praise  and  blame  —  in  a  word,  the  whole 
system  of  things  that  now  exist,  in  fact,  by  divine 
arrangement. 

God,  having  established  this  system  of  moral 
government,  based  on  the  freedom  of  man,  and 
the  righteous  requisitions  of  his  holy  law,  had  to 
save  us  according  to  this  system  of  things,  or  not 
at  all.  And  of  one  thing  I  feel  fully  assured,  that 
at  the  day  of  judgment  (if  never  before)  it  will  ap- 
pear that  God  has  done  all  that  he  could  do,  consist- 
ently with  his  moral  government  and  the  freedom 
of  the  human  will,  to  save  every  human  being;  for 
he  is  "  no  respecter  of  persons."  What  knowledge 
did  we  need  that  he  has  not  revealed?  "What  law 
did  we  require  that  he  has  not  enacted?  What 
warning  did  our  condition  demand  that  he  has  not 
given?  What  grace  did  our  guilt  require,  in  order 
to  obtain  pardon  and  salvation,  that  he  has  riot  pre- 
sented to  us  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ?  What  light 
do  we  need  that  his  word  does  not  afford?  What 
power  do  we  want  that  his  Spirit  cannot  bestow? 
Does  not  this  provision  for  our  every  necessity  show 
us  that  God  cannot  be  blamed  for  the  unhappy  des- 
tiny of  any  human  being? 

We  will  conclude  these  remarks  with  some  review 
and  reflections  on  the  results  of  character  noticed 
in  the  text. 

The  characters  alluded  to  in  the  expression, 
"these,"  is  well  defined  in  the  context,  and  has 
15 


338  FUTURE   REWARDS   AND   PUNISHMENTS. 

been  noticed  so  far  as  to  need  only  a  remark  or  two. 
This  final  punishment  is  called  the  second  death. 
It  is  a  final  separation  from  God,  the  fountain  of  all 
life,  and  the  source  of  all  blessing.  And  then  to  en- 
dure "the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire,"  in  the  "lake 
of  fire  and  brimstone,  where  they  shall  be  torment- 
ed, day  and  night,  forever  and  ever!"  It  is  an  ap- 
palling punishment,  which  is  announced  to  men  as 
a  motive  to  keep  them  out  of  it,  and  a  vindication 
of  divine  justice  should  the  sinner  force  him  to  put 
him  in  it. 

The  issues  of  a  righteous  life,  according  to  the 
text,  is  "  life  eternal."  Life,  whether  considered 
as  vegetable,  animal,  or  spiritual,  is  a  most  myste- 
rious existence,  and,  with  sentient  beings,  a  thing 
greatly  enjoyed.  To  have  a  consciousness  of  being, 
of  enjoyment,  of  satisfaction,  a  realization  of  the 
thousand  things  that  minister  to  our  enjoyment 
in  the  present  state  of  things;  and  then  the  higher 
and  more  extended  hopes  that  we  are  allowed  to 
cherish  in  regard  to  the  future — to  take  in  the  sweep 
of  the  plans  and  purposes  of  God  concerning  us, 
which  culminates  in  a  final  exemption  from  every 
disturbing  element  that  might  intermeddle  with  our 
joys !  Then  comes  the  broad  benediction  of  our 
Father  and  God,  springing  from  the  fervor  of  his 
infinite  love  to  his  spotless  child,  washed  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb — pure  as  wool — white  as  snow — 
glowing  in  his  likeness  and  image,  who  assures  us 
that  our  life  is  eternal.  "  Our  inheritance  is  incor- 
ruptible, undefiled,  and  fadeth  not  away."  He  has 
gotten  np  for  the  good  man  a  whole  eternity  of 


FUTURE    REWARDS    AND    PUNISHMENTS.  339 

heaven,  with  all  that  can  make  a  heaven  complete, 
produced  by  infinite  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness, 
with  all  the  gracious  designs  that  the  love  of  an  in- 
finite Being  would  suggest.  And  then  we  have  an 
immortality  of  being  to  take  in  the  boundless  pros- 
pect, with  no  drawbacks,  such  as  disease  and  death, 
failure  of  property  and  means,  to  check  the  eternal 
advancement,  or  curtail  the  boundlessness  of  pros- 
pect. This  glorious  amplitude  of  arrangement  looks 
like  the  doing  of  a  God  who  can  with  infinite  ease 
accomplish  it  all,  and  in  doing  so  gratify  his  father- 
ly feeling  as  well  as  the  cravings  of  his  own  intel- 
lectual and  immortal  child. 

Will  you  accept  these  chances  of  eternal  well- 
being?  Will  you  strive  to  escape  the  torments  to 
which  sin  exposes  you,  and  aspire  to  the  sublime 
privileges  to  which  your  Father  and  God  calls  his 
immortal  offspring? 


CUEIST  AND  HIS  WOEK. 

BY  THE  REV.  A.  A.  LIPSCOMB,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Vanderbilt  University. 

"Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business?" 
Luke  ii.  49. 

"  I  have  finished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do." 
John  xvii.  4. 

EACH  of  the  four  evangelists  was  so  intent  on 
giving  his  own  personal  view  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  unconsciously  to  make  his  narrative  one 
of  a  fourfold  biography.  Our  final  impression  of 
the  Man  Divine  is  not  taken  from  what  St.  Matthew, 
St.  Mark,  St.  Luke,  or  St.  John,  individually  re- 
cords, but  from  that  unity  of  character  in  which 
their  representations  coalesce  —  a  unity  altogether 
independent  of  a  set  purpose  on  their  part.  The 
unity  is  complete  because  the  individuality  is  per- 
fect. These  writers  knew  that  they  were  inspired 
by  the  Holy  Ghost;  yet  this  inspiration,  proceeding 
from  the  source  of  eternal  wisdom,  penetrated  their 
minds  deeper  than  they  understood.  So  it  is,  in- 
deed, with  all  our  higher  knowledge.  It  illumi- 
nates, and  it  darkens.  It  excites  and  restrains.  It 
reveals  our  strength,  that  we  may  be  more  sensible 
of  our  weakness.  Like  the  light  of  day,  it  ascends 
from  the  night  of  the  east,  and  sinks  down  into  the 

C340) 


CHRIST   AND    HIS   WORK.  341 

night  of  the  west.  Not  strange  is  it,  then,  that 
these  inspired  evangelists  were  wiser  than  they 
knew.  After  all,  the  conscious  man  is  only  a  frag- 
ment of  the  unconscious  man;  and  it  is  in  the  lat- 
ter, alike  in  the  supernatural  and  the  natural,  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  chiefly  works. 

Imagine  such  a  genius  as  Michael  Angelo  con- 
ceiving the  plan  of  the  dome  over  St.  Peter's.  Sec- 
tional drawings  are  made  and  given  to  his  work- 
men. Each  of  these  workmen  executes  his  allotted 
part.  Ignorant  of  the  general  design,  he  keeps  at- 
tention fixed  on  his  special  task,  and  performs  it  all 
the  better  since  it  alone  engages  his  thought.  The 
different  portions  are  afterward  brought  together. 
Each  takes  its  predesigned  place,  and  when  the 
whole  has  been  completed,  a  thoughtful  spectator 
sees  how  division  of  labor  rests  on  division  of  mind, 
and  how  division  of  mind  depends  on  the  unity  of 
a  presiding  mind,  supreme  over  all  the  details.  Thus 
it  was  with  these  evangelists.  Four  they  were,  four 
very  unlike  men,  four  with  tastes  and  habits  of 
thinking  wide  apart.  And  yet  they  were  one.  Be- 
neath their  active  consciousness  lay  the  secret  unity 
of  unconsciousness,  known  only  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  controlled  by  him  in  fulfillment  of  his  purpose. 
Instance  the  two  texts  we  propose  to  discuss.  One- 
third  of  a  century,  perhaps  more,  lay  between  the 
times  when  they  were  written.  The  intervening 
period  was  violent,  revolutionary,  and  destructive. 
A  scattered  nation,  an  extinct  hierarchy,  the  ashes 
of  Jerusalem  and  her  temple,  separated  the  era  of 
St.  Luke  from  that  of  St.  John.  Very  different 


342  CHRIST   AND   11IS   WORK. 

also  were  the  two  writers.  St.  Luke  had  the  eye 
of  a  scientific  observer.  Keen  perception  and  calm 
meditation  were  singularly  blended  in  his  intellect. 
He  saw  things  twice — once  without,  then  within — 
analyzed  his  impressions,  estimated  his  facts,  after 
poising  them,  by  the  principles  they  contained,  and 
gave  nothing  to  his  pen  which  had  not  been  accu- 
rately considered.  On  the  other  hand,  St.  John  was 
the  most  instinctive  of  thinkers.  The  inner  eye  in 
him  was  large  and  lustrous.  Had  he  not  lain  on 
the  bosom  of  Jesus,  and  heard  the  throb  of  eternity 
in  the  beatings  of  his  heart  ?  And  how  else  could 
he  think  save  in  rapt  contemplation,  his  faculties 
forgetting  their  distinctions,  and  cooperating  in  rare 
oneness  under  the  mastery  of  that  sublime  theme 
which  was  as  habitual  to  his  thoughts  as  breath  to 
the  lungs?  Despite  of  this  dissimilarity,  St.  Luke 
and  St.  John  afford  us  a  unitary  view  of  Christ's 
work.  Picture  it  to  yourselves:  Yonder  in  the 
temple  is  the  little  boy.  A  wonder  he  is,  and  yet 
perfectly  simple,  natural,  appreciable,  in  his  won- 
derfulness.  And  there  in  the  upper  chamber  at 
Jerusalem  is  the  mature  man,  some  thirty -three 
years  of  age,  as  men  reckon  years.  What  is  the 
uppermost  idea  in  the  boy's  mind?  "My  Father's 
business."  And  what  is  the  opening  thought  in 
that  prayer  which  had  been  reserved  as  the  closing 
grandeur  of  his  divine  ministry?  "  I  have  finished 
the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do."  The  con- 
sciousness of  an  infinite  work  is  the  same;  the  ut- 
terance in  the  gentle  accents  of  the  child  and  the 
firm  emphasis  of  the  man  is  essentially  the  same; 


CHRIST   AND   HIS   WORK.  343 

so  that  the  circle,  which  had  drawn  its  unbroken 
line  around  his  native  land,  and  inclosed  in  its  ma- 
jestic curve  every  possible  act  of  beneficent  service, 
closes  its  line  at  the  point  whence  it  started.  No- 
tice— 

I.  Christ's  early  consciousness  of  his  divine  work. 

The  story,  as  narrated  by  St.  Luke  with  such 
touching  simplicity,  need  not  be  repeated.  Like  a 
marvelous  apparition,  he  is  found  in  the  temple, 
"  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors,  both  hearing 
them,  and  asking  them  questions."  Long  after- 
ward the  people  "were  astonished  at  his  doctrine," 
but  even  now  "  all  that  heard  him  \vere  astonished 
at  his  understanding  and  answers."  Our  first 
glimpse  of  him  is  as  a  learner,  and  the  impression 
he  makes  is  remarkable.  Observe,  however,  it  is 
not  in  contact  with  the  learned  doctors,  but  in  con- 
nection with  his  mother,  that  the  depth  of  his  wis- 
dom is  most  apparent.  Nothing  that  he  said  to  the 
doctors  is  reported.  Yet  he  could  hardly  have 
spoken  any  thing  to  them  so  wonderful  as  the 
words  addressed  to  his  mother.  The  surprise  of 
Mary,  that  he  should  have  lingered  behind  in  the 
temple,  contrasts  strikingly  enough  with  his  half- 
concealed  astonishment  that  she  should  not  under- 
stand the  reason  of  his  conduct.  Did  you  not  know 
"  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business?"  To 
realize  our  true  relation  to  God  as  our  Father  is  al- 
ways, under  all  circumstances,  the  supreme  act  of 
human  intelligence;  and  this  the  holy  child  Jesus 
evinces  in  the  reply  to  his  earthly  mother.  There 
in  that  famous  hall,  there  in  the  presence  of  priests 


344  CHRIST    AND    HIS    WORK. 

and  teachers,  he  will  let  her  know  gently  and 
earnestly  what  his  true  Sonship  is,  and  what  his 
"business  "in  the  world.  Who  taught  him  that? 
How  knew  he  it?  The  order  of  Nature  is  reversed 
— the  child  teaches  the  mother.  The  order  of  Nat- 
ure is  reversed  again — elderly  men,  life-long  stu- 
dents, celebrated  instructors,  the  Hillels,  the  Sim- 
eons, the  Gamaliels,  of  the  day,  are  "  astonished," 
and  the  child-pupil  is  calm,  meek,  unamazed.  The 
order  of  Nature  reversed,  did  we  say?  Rather  let 
us  say,  an  expansion  of  Nature  in  that  Temple  of 
Transfiguration.  Was  Nature  ever  so  natural,  so 
beautiful,  so  resplendent,  in  the  stage  of  childhood? 
Many  scores  of  times  has  genius  painted  and  sculpt- 
ured childhood.  Oftener  still  has  imagination  sig- 
nalized its  power  by  giving  its  image  in  poetry 
and  prose.  Fiction  has  delighted  in  its  exquisite 
ideal.  Yet  here  in  the  third  Gospel  is  the  solitary 
picture,  once  sketched,  never  anticipated  by  a  prec- 
edent, never  followed  by  an  imitation. 

It  is  worthy  of  the  closest  study.  No  human  in- 
vention has  ever  been  competent  to  create  such  an 
idea,  such  a  form,  such  a  scene.  At  an  age  when 
boyhood  is  fully  open  to  all  the  accesses  of  the  ma- 
terial universe;  at  an  age  when  it  is  the  creature  of 
fresh  and  eager  senses,  and  lives  only  or  chiefly  in 
the  stir  of  the  blood  and  the  flush  of  sensation;  at 
an  age  which,  if  it  has  thoughts  of  God,  it  catches 
them  as  soft  gleams  from  maternal  eyes,  or  has  them 
throbbing  in  its  pulses  while  asleep  and  dreaming 
on  the  maternal  breast;  at  this  age,  when  even  the 
most  exceptional  boyhood,  though  favored  with 


CHRIST   AND    HIS    WORK.  345 

spiritual  influence,  never  associates  it  with  God  as 
the  "  business  "  of  life,  we  find  the  boy  Jesus  giving 
utterance  to  the  sublime  consciousness  of  a  divine 
Sonship  and  a  divine  duty.  Yet,  if  we  recall  the 
Annunciation  of  Gabriel  to  the  Elect  Virgin,  and 
the  language  of  Simeon  and  Anna,  instead  of  start- 
ling us,  it  is  thoroughly  congruous  with  what  we 
have  been  taught  to  expect.  Too  many  wonders 
are  here  in  close  and  bright  array  for  any  one  to  as- 
sume preeminence  of  augustness.  When  we  look 
at  the  nightly  heavens,  radiant  from  the  dim  line 
of  the  horizon  to  the  splendor  of  the  zenith,  it  is  the 
oneness  of  the  magnificent  scenery  that  makes  the 
thought  of  God  so  welcome  and  so  powerful.  We 
see  it  all,  and  it  satisfies  the  imagination.  The 
wholeness  is  the  grandeur.  Precisely  in  this  way 
a  devout  mind  is  affected  in  contemplating  the  life 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Childhood,  youth,  and  mature 
age;  sorrow  and  joy;  silence  and  speech;  home  and 
homelessness;  love  and  hatred;  the  friendship  that 
honored  and  the  betrayal  that  cruelly  wronged  him; 
his  birth  and  death — what  a  mysterious  force  of  af- 
finity binds  them  together!  A  typical  example  of 
this  is  presented  in  the  incident  connected  with  the 
text.  Had  "  the  child  Jesus  tarried  behind  in  Jeru- 
salem?" The  act  is  prophetic.  Years  hence  he 
will  have  to  detach  himself  from  his  mother,  and 
the  quiet  associations  of  Nazareth,  that  he  may  re- 
appear in  that  same  temple,  and  assert  its  sanctity 
as  the  house  of  his  Father.  Had  his  mother  sought 
him  "  sorrowing? "  Twenty  years  subsequent  to 
this  occurrence  she  left  her  home  "sorrowing," 
15* 


346  CHRIST    AND   HIS    WORK. 

hastened  to  him  after  his  final  rupture  with  the 
Pharisees,  and,  on  reaching  the  scene  of  his  minis- 
try, desired  an  interview  with  him.  But  his  words 
were,  "Who  are  my  mother  and  my  brethren?" 
Each  time,  yea,  many  a  time  besides,  Simeon's  dec- 
laration came  true:  "A  sword  shall  pierce  through 
thy  own  soul  also."  Even  in  the  outset  of  his  ca- 
reer, did  not  his  loving  and  "  sorrowing "  mother 
learn  the  same  lesson  at  the  wedding  in  Cana? 
The  place,  the  circumstances,  the  action,  the  words, 
of  "the  child  Jesus"  on  the  occasion  in  the  temple 
were  not  only  prophetic,  but  symbolic  of  his  destiny. 
"  I  must; "  "  Father; "  "  business,"  or  "  work  "—how 
frequently  was  this  first  utterance  of  his  repeated! 

Let  us  be  careful,  however,  that  we  do  not  mis- 
understand this  matter.  "  The  child  Jesus  "  was  a 
real  child  —  a  divine  child,  indeed  —  and  yet  thor- 
oughly human,  and  all  the  more  so  because  divine. 
It  was  this  sense  of  the  human  in  him  that  spoke 
the  great  words  of  the  text.  So  far  from  denying 
the  motherhood  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  he  admits  and 
honors  it  to  the  full,  and  his  surprise  is  that  his 
earthly  mother  fails  to  recognize  his  heavenly  Fa- 
ther. Hence,  the  unqualified  admission  of  his  child- 
hood as  to  its  nature  and  limitations  must  be  felt 
before  the  profound  wisdom  of  his  language  can  be 
appreciated.  It  is  not,  then,  the  consciousness  of  a 
child  that  speaks,  but  the  consciousness  of  "  the  child 
Jesus."  St.  Luke  is  careful  to  guard  this  point. 
Mistakes  here  were  not  only  possible,  but  very 
probable,  as  we  see  in  the  apocryphal  gospels;  and, 
therefore,  the  wise  evangelist  informs  us  that  "  Je- 


CHRIST   AND   HIS   WORK.  347 

sus  increased  in  wisdom  and  stature,"  no  distinction 
being  allowed  between  his  conformity  to  physical 
laws  and  to  intellectual  laws.  Such  a  conscious- 
ness, though  existing  under  the  conditions  of  child- 
hood, was  entirely  adequate  to  express  the  thought 
and  feeling  contained  in  the  text.  The  firmament 
could  not  be  reflected  in  the  ocean  unless  it  were 
pictured  in  a  drop  of  dew,  for  the  ocean  is  only  an 
immense  globule  of  water.  The  consciousness  of  Je- 
sus as  a  child  was  perfect  as  the  consciousness  of  one 
only  twelve  years  of  age,  and  accordingly  just  as 
perfect  for  that  period  of  life  in  him  as  it  was  when 
he  entered  on  his  public  ministry.  Here  in  this 
small  room  a  tiny  lamp  is  burning;  yonder  in  that 
hall  a  large  lamp  is  blazing;  the  degree  of  illumi- 
nation varies,  and  yet  in  both  instances  there  is 
light  sufficient.  The  tiny  lamp  does  its  work  just 
as  well,  and  answers  its  purpose  just  as  completely, 
as  the  large  lamp.  So  with  Christ's  consciousness 
as  a  child.  Time,  meditation,  experience,  all  the 
various  constituents  of  human  growth,  would  en- 
large and  intensify  that  consciousness  because  they 
would  expand  and  deepen  his  human  nature.  But 
these  means  of  development  would  add  nothing, 
and  could  add  nothing,  to  the  fact  of  the  conscious- 
ness itself,  nor  by  any  accretion  vary  the  essential 
quality  of  the  consciousness  peculiar  to  him  as  the 
Son  of  God.  Nothing  that  he  ever  said  was  more 
like  him  than  the  words,  "  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must 
be  about  my  Father's  business?"  Observe — 

II.  Eighteen  years  followed  of  preparation  for  his  di- 
vine work. 


348  CHRIST    AND    HIS   WORK. 

Over  these  years  a  veil  of  obscurity  is  drawn. 
Beyond  the  facts  that  he  lived  at  Nazareth,  was 
"  subject "  unto  his  parents,  "increased  in  wisdom 
and  stature,  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man," 
wrought  at  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and  attended 
the  synagogue  on  Sabbath,  we  know  nothing. 
"Great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness;"  and  it  was 
fit  and  proper,  suited  to  the  laws  of  the  human  in- 
tellect and  to  the  conditions  of  Christ's  own  develop- 
ment, that  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  "  should  not 
make  a  sudden  and  premature  display  of  his  glory. 
On  Christ's  account  as  Son  of  man,  on  man's  account 
as  a  fallen  and  imperfect  being  who  must  be  put  in 
a  position  to  learn  before  he  can  be  instructed,  this 
period  of  solitude  was  ordained.  Had  not  Christ 
been  more  than  a  man,  it  is  quite  probable  that  we 
should  have  had  his  continuous  history.  A  mere 
teacher,  exemplar,  benefactor,  could  hardly  have 
made  his  position  tenable  in  the  absence  of  a  con- 
tinuously open  career.  For  us  likewise  this  seclu- 
sion was  necessary.  We  have  in  our  souls  a  sense 
of  solitude,  a  deep  and  mighty  sense  of  isolation  and 
loneliness,  and  it  has  to  be  educated  by  Providence 
and  the  Holy  Spirit  to  fulfill  its  high  purpose.  To 
be  "made  like  unto  his  brethren,"  Christ's  biogra- 
phy for  these  eighteen  3rears  was  written  on  his 
heart  alone.  Aside  from  this,  who  can  prize  the 
worth  or  realize  the  beauty  of  another's  character 
unless  there  be  some  hidden  ness?  If  facts  teach, 
hints  and  suggestions  quicken  and  excite;  yea, 
they  often  inspire  the  mind's  best  efforts,  and  lead 
to  its  grandest  achievements.  Now,  as  it  respects 


CHRIST    AND    HIS    WORK.  349 

this  season  of  Christ's  obscurity,  how  very  happily 
has  inspiration  consulted  the  profound  needs  of  our 
mental  nature!  The  darkness  is  not  unrelieved. 
Gleams  of  light  direct  our  thoughts.  "  Hail,  holy 
Light,  offspring  of  Heaven  first-born,  .  .  .  bright 
effluence  of  bright  essence  increate!"  for  by  it  we 
see  Jesus  submitting  to  the  terms  of  earthly  exist- 
ence, taking  on  himself  in  advance  the  burdens  and 
sorrows  of  human  kind,  dignifying  common  toil, 
sanctifying  the  home  of  humble  life,  and  illustrating 
in  his  own  history  the  content  and  qniet  satisfac- 
tions of  an  honest  and  cheerful  poverty.  Surely, 
among  the  many  lessons  he  came  to  teach  the  world, 
this  was  not  the  least  of  those  so  much  needed. 

This  period  of  eighteen  years  was  a  period  of 
constant  and  diligent  preparation  for  his  great  work. 
The  wise  thinker  must  precede  the  wise  worker — 
this  is  Nature's  law,  and  Providence  sees  to  its  stern 
enforcement.  Experience  is  worth  little  in  active 
life  if  no  basis  has  been  previously  laid;  and  the 
knowledge  of  the  world,  and  of  the  world's  affairs, 
especially  the  knowledge  of  human  nature,  is  piece- 
meal and  fragmentary  where  one  has  not  studied  his 
own  soul  in  privacy — the  supreme  blessing  of  youth 
and  early  manhood.  Christ  was  in  no  haste  to  be- 
gin his  public  ministry.  For  thousands  of  years 
he  had  delayed  his  incarnation  by  waiting  for  "the 
fullness  of  time,"  and  now  he  would  repeat  that 
same  principle  of  his  divine  economy,  and  gather 
"the  fullness"  into  his  humanity  before  he  mani- 
fested his  glory.  How  much  of  the  work  afterward 
done  in  Jerusalem  and  Galilee  was  virtually  accom- 


350  CHRIST   AND    HIS    WORK. 

plished  iu  the  retirement  of  Nazareth  it  is  easy  to 
conjecture.  In  every  parable,  in  every  miracle,  in 
every  discussion  with  wily  Pharisees,  every  time  he 
was  tested  by  casuistical  questions,  whenever  he  had 
to  confront  danger  and  face  imminent  peril,  he  was 
not  only  beforehand  with  the  occasion,  but  before- 
hand with  himself;  every  nerve  trained,  every  mus- 
cle obedient,  every  faculty  disciplined;  so  that  he 
was  incapable  of  irritation,  and  of  spasmodic  im- 
pulse, and  of  sudden  surprise,  and  never  other  than 
ready  for  whatever  might  need  his  sympathy  or  de- 
serve his  rebuke.  The  "  fullness  of  time  "  was  in 
all  his  hours,  and  with  it  the  "  fullness  "  of  wisdom, 
love,  power,  and  majesty. 

It  is  with  this  period  we  connect  his  culture.  It 
was  self-culture  in  an  eminent  degree.  Of  educa- 
tion, in  the  rabbinical  sense  of  the  term,  he  had  lit- 
tle or  none.  Likely  enough  he  may  have  attended 
the  school  of  the  synagogue,  but  he  was  never  a 
pupil  of  the  rabbis.  No  doubt  his  mother  taught 
his  boyhood.  One  accustomed  to  analyze  thought 
can  easily  detect  the  unmistakable  impress  of  wom- 
anly mind,  both  in  the  contents  of  his  ideas  and  the 
peculiar  mode  of  their  expression.  That  depth  of 
sentiment  lying  beneath  every  principle  he  unfolded 
was  due  to  his  mother,  and  could  not  have  been  ac- 
quired, the  natural  laws  of  mind  being  assumed  as 
dominant,  except  in  very  early  life,  and  under  cir- 
cumstances of  unusual  impressionableness.  Next 
to  maternal  influence,  we  trace  the  effect  of  Moses, 
David,  and  Isaiah,  on  his  intellect.  In  the  culture 
of  his  profound  sense  of  law  —  that  realization  of 


CHRIST    AND    llIS    WORK.  351 

law  which  is  infinitely  higher  than  mere  deference 
to  rules,  and  which  produces  habits  of  thinking, 
feeling,  acting,  even  when  apparently  most  sponta- 
neous, by  the  secret  virtue  of  obedience  to  lofty 
conceptions — Christ  was  evidently  the  pupil  of  Mo- 
ses. His  very  heart  was  closely  akin  to  the  great 
lawgiver.  Imagine  with  what  personal  emphasis 
he  uttered  the  words,  "  Had  ye  believed  Moses,  ye 
would  have  believed  me,  for  he  wrote  of  me."  In 
fact,  the  main  controversy  of  his  life  was  on  the  dis- 
honor of  Moses  by  the  oral  law.  If  he  vindicated 
the  Sabbath  against  superstitious  observance,  if  he 
reclaimed  for  marriage  its  original  sanctity,  if  he 
protected  family  relationships  against  the  corban — 
in  brief,  wherever  he  touched  the  sordid,  hypocrit- 
ical, vindictive  spirit  of  the  ruling  portion  of  the 
Pharisaic  sect,  it  was  in  defense  of  Moses,  whose 
seat  these  fanatics  had  usurped,  and  under  cover  of 
whose  authority  their  mad  zealotry  was  driving  the 
nation  into  the  abyss  of  ruin. 

Like  his  ancestor  David,  he  loved  Nature,  and  de- 
lighted in  its  communion.  This  was  a  marked  trait 
in  his  character.  If  it  emerged  in  his  intellect,  and 
through  it  in  his  parables  and  discourses,  it  was  be- 
cause of  its  deeper  hold  upon  his  heart.  He  did 
not  like  cities.  The  freedom,  the  simplicity,  the 
buoyancy  of  rural  life,  were  ever  welcome  to  him, 
and,  like  all  reflective  minds,  he  courted  the  com- 
panionship of  the  fields,  the  mountain,  the  flower- 
ing meadow,  the  terraced  hillsides,  the  orchards  of 
the  olive,  and  the  winding  aisles  of  the  graceful 
palms.  Far  more  than  Solomon,  or  any  Jew  of  a 


352  CHRIST  AND  HIS  WORK. 

later  day,  he  reproduced  and  perfected  David's  mode 
of  regarding  the  physical  universe,  looking  on  it 
as  a  transparency,  through  which  the  infinite  glory 
shone  in  the  gorgeousness  of  the  day  and  the  brill- 
iancy of  the  night.  Poetry  had  always  found  its 
emblems  here,  but  the  psalmist  saw  in  these  things 
the  ordained  symbols,  far  more  expressive  than  fig- 
urative signs,  of  truths  which  addressed  sentiments 
in  man  other  than  those  belonging  to  the  imagina- 
tion and  its  distinct  order  of  emotions.  Christ  car- 
ried this  habit  of  viewing  Nature,  and  of  presenting 
its  illustrations  in  parables,  much  beyond  David. 
Yet  David,  in  this,  was  one  of  his  teachers.  And 
how  favorable  was  Nazareth  for  this  form  of  self- 
development!  The  hill,  rising  between  four  and 
five  hundred  feet  in  the  rear  of  the  town,  afforded 
u  view  of  a  landscape  as  wonderful  in  extent  as  in 
the  diversity  and  interest  of  its  objects.  Toward 
the  west,  some  twenty  miles  distant,  Carmel  lifted 
its  wooded  head  over  the  white  sands  of  the  Medi- 
terranean shore.  Northward  were  the  uplands  of 
Galilee.  Hill  rose  above  hill,  mountain  over  mount- 
ain, till  Hermon,  ten  thousand  feet  above  the  sea- 
level,  bounded  the  magnificent  panorama  with  its 
crowning  sublimity  of  snow.  On  the  east,  Tabor 
was  visible,  with  its  summit  of  oak  and  terebinth. 
The  famous  Plain  of  Esdraelon  lay  southward,  and 
beyond  it  the  broken  surface  of  Samaria.  Safed, 
"  the  city  set  upon  a  hill,"  at  an  elevation  of  nearly 
three  thousand  feet,  was  within  reach  of  the  eye. 
Great  roads,  extending  in  various  directions  over 
the  country,  were  the  highways  of  caravans  and 


CHRIST    AND    HIS   WORK.  353 

the  busy  thoroughfares  of  a  swarming  population. 
Greeks,  Romans,  Phenicians,  Arabians,  Samaritans, 
Jews,  were  in  daily  transit  from  point  to  point 
where  trade  had  concentrated.  Yet,  with  all  this 
activity  of  life  near  by,  Nazareth  was  sheltered 
within  its  inclosure  of  hills,  as  a  cove  safe  from  a 
stormy  sea.  Here  it  was,  then,  that  Christ's  human 
soul  grew  into  fuller  light  and  larger  freedom  un- 
der the  quickenings  of  King  David's  more  kingly 
Psalms.  But,  at  the  same  time,  his  own  conscious- 
ness gave  him  an  insight  into  their  meanings  the 
royal  psalmist  never  saw.  Therein,  too,  he  saw 
himself  revealed  as  none  but  an  inspired  poet,  and 
he  a  monarch,  could  portray  him.  The  inmost  sen- 
timent of  his  nature  as  Son  of  man,  which  held  in 
itself  alone  the  keenest  capacity  of  suffering  in  its 
relations  to  his  family  and  countrymen,  was  found 
only  in  these  Psalms;  and  what  an  infinite  import 
the  contact  of  his  own  mind  gave  to  them! 

Arid  was  he  not  to  be  a  suffering  Messiah;  "de- 
spised and  rejected  of  men;"  to  be  "  stricken,  smit- 
ten of  God,  and  afflicted; "  to  be  "  a  man  of  sorrows, 
and  acquainted  with  grief; "  to  be  led  "  as  a  lamb  to 
the  slaughter;"  to  be  "  bruised  "  and  " put  to  grief," 
and  to  make  his  "grave  with  the  wicked  and  with 
the  rich  in  his  death?"  Deeper  than  all  else  in  his 
soul  lay  that  instinct  of  sorrow,  by  means  of  which 
he  was  to  render  the  highest  obedience  to  law,  and 
through  it  to  infinite  justice.  Who  was  the  prophet 
of  this  atoning  grief,  of  its  multiplied  agony,  of  its 
sacrificial  death,  but  Isaiah  ?  Think  of  the  prophet's 
large  and  generous  views,  of  his  glowing  sympathy 


354  CHRIST   AND   HIS   WORK. 

with  the  Gentiles,  of  his  quick  and  tender  humanity, 
of  his  indignation  at  wrong,  of  his  exposure  of  the 
sins  and  crimes  of  his  nation,  of  his  sublimity,  of 
the  easy  access  of  pathos  to  his  patriotic  heart,  and 
you  can  form  some  conception  of  how  Isaiah  must 
have  impressed  the  opening  mind  of  Christ.  Re- 
turning to  Nazareth  after  the  opening  of  his  minis- 
try, how  natural  it  was  that  he  should  preach  to  his 
townsmen  from  the  passage  Isaiah  Ixi.,  and  declare 
to  them  the  fulfillment  that  day,  in  that  synagogue, 
in  their  presence,  of  those  memorable  words  uttered 
seven  hundred  years  before! 

Most  of  all,  during  these  eighteen  years,  was  the 
growth  of  Christ's  consciousness  enlarged  and  in- 
tensified by  communion  with  his  Father.  No  incite- 
ment needed  he  for  contemplation,  for  prayer  and 
praise,  for  the  awe  solemnized  by  grandeur,  and  for 
the  holy  joy  kindled  by  the  glories  of  infinite  love. 
These  were  in  him  ever.  Yet  he  was  "  made  under 
the  law  " — the  law  requiring  growth  by  experience 
— the  law  of  "  perfect  through  suffering."  "  Holy, 
harmless,  and  undefiled,"  he  needed  no  grace  to 
conquer  sin  or  fortify  him  against  evil  propensities. 
Such  a  nature,  however,  as  his  was  far  less  at  home 
in  this  world  than  we  are.  The  contrast  between 
him  and  the  condition  in  which  he  placed  himself 
amid  poverty,  adverse  criticism,  false  views  of  his 
motives  and  purposes,  and  whatsoever  else  was  in- 
cluded in  "  the  form  of  a  servant,"  was  infinitely 
greater  than  any  contrariety  we  know  in  our  exist- 
ence, or  can  imagine.  To  adjust  himself  to  the  state 
of  things  about  him  was  a  constant  and  grievous 


CHRIST   AND   HIS    WORK.  355 

trial — not  a  trial  in  the  sense  of  probation,  nor  a 
trial  that  involved  the  risk  of  failure,  but  one  of  that 
higher  discipline  which  consisted  in  adapting  him- 
self to  the  work  he  had  undertaken.  It  was  because 
he  was  perfect,  "  separate  from  sinners,  and  made 
higher  than  the  heavens,"  that  such  a  peculiar  train- 
ing of  himself  was  required.  Nor  was  it  more  nec- 
essary at  any  period  of  his  life  than  in  those  years 
of  seclusion.  Impulses,  natural  and  innocent,  had 
to  be  kept  in  check.  His  goodness  had  to  be  veiled. 
A  young  villager,  the  sole  possessor  of  an  infinite 
secret,  he  had  to  be  reticent.  The  virtues  in  him, 
superior  incomparably  to  any  religious  excellence 
in  Nazareth,  could  make  no  manifestation  proper  to 
his  divinity.  Instincts,  high  and  holy  instincts,  had 
to  be  restrained.  Too  early  a  bloom  in  that  Asiatic 
spring  might  have  invited  the  frost  of  blight  and 
death.  Self-denial,  such  as  only  a  perfect  man  could 
practice,  nay,  such  as  only  the  Son  of  man  could  ex- 
ercise, was  a  constant  and  urgent  duty.  For  all 
these  varied  tasks,  for  submission  to  daily  toil  in 
the  workshop,  for  the  long  concealment  of  his  self- 
recognition  as  the  Son  of  God,  what  communion 
with  his  Father  was  needed!  With  whom  else  was 
the  fellowship  of  his  soul  possible?  Only  one  out- 
let to  his  pent-up  heart  existed — intercourse  with 
his  Father.  Consider — 

III.   The  spirit  of  Christ's  work. 

It  was  a  spirit  of  profound  reverence  for  law. 
Not  only  did  he  evince  this  with  regard  to  the  law 
of  eternal  right,  but  toward  every  form  of  law  with 
which  his  position  brought  him  in  contact."  John 


356  CHRIST    AND    HIS   WORK. 

the  Baptist  had  an  insight  into  the  holiness  of 
Christ  when,  in  remonstrance  against  baptizing 
him,  he  said,  "I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee; 
and  com.est  thou  to  me?"  But  the  Lord  Jesus  will 
take  his  place  among  the  multitude  John  is  bap- 
tizing, conform  to  the  rite  of  a  preparatory  econ- 
omy, and  so  "fulfill  all  righteousness."  Nothing 
could  be  as  to  outward  aspect  more  remote  from 
his  baptism  in  the  Jordan  than  his  payment  of  the 
tax  by  the  coin  from  a  fish.  Here  as  before,  "  suf- 
fer it  to  be  so."  The  same  condescension  is  exhib- 
ited; and  while  claiming  immunity  from  the  tem- 
ple-tax on  the  ground  of  his  divine  Sonship,  he 
instructs  St.  Peter  to  pay  the  demand;  yet,  at  the 
instant,  he  works  a  miracle  to  show  that,  while  he 
obeys  law,  he  is  Lord  over  all  laws. 

Sovereignty  over  law  and  submission  to  law  are  two 
facts  that  Christ  never  allowed  to  be  separated  in 
his  personal  history.  Men  must  have  in  him  a  per- 
son to  adore  as  well  as  an  example  to  imitate.  Dis- 
join the  imitation  from  the  adoration,  take  the  for- 
mer alone,  admit  its  perfect  beauty,  and  then  tell 
us  what  is  there  in  it  peculiar  as  to  the  principle 
involved.  To  be  of  any  avail,  imitation  must  rest 
on  authority.  This  was  Christ's  method,  and  ac- 
cordingly he  conjoined  in  his  acts  sovereignty  and 
submission. 

Take  two  illustrations.  Notice  his  obedience  to 
the  laws  of  the  human  body.  He  was  never  sick, 
never  an  invalid,  never  so  much  exhausted  that  food 
and  rest  did  not  promptly  restore  his  strength. 
Probably  he  was  the  healthiest  man  that  ever  lived. 


CHRIST   AND   HIS   WORK.  357 

Three  years  of  extraordinary  labor,  three  years  of 
most  exhaustive  duties,  three  years  during  which 
he  combined  the  offices  of  Healer,  Teacher,  Preach- 
er, Benefactor,  Founder  and  Administrator  of  a 
new  economy  of  providence  and  grace,  left  him 
unimpaired,  so  that  he  came  to  the  last  night  in  the 
garden  fresh  and  strong.  Hours  of  the  night  could 
be  spent  in  prayer  with  no  loss  of  energy  for  the 
next  day's  tasks.  This  was  due,  we  apprehend,  to 
the  wisdom  and  fidelity  with  which  he  obeyed  the 
laws  of  physical  manhood.  Remarkable  as  was  the 
care  of  his  body,  how  the  wonder  increases  when 
we  see  that  he  could  at  any  moment  set  aside  the 
laws  of  the  body,  vanish  from  a  turbulent  crowd, 
or  tread  the  thin  crests  of  a  billowy  sea!  Here,  as 
subjecting  himself  to  physical  laws  in  their  closest 
connection  with  our  nature,  he  permits  no  interest 
of  benevolence,  no  pressure  of  sympathy,  to  lessen 
his  working  force.  And  here,  in  the  same  domain 
of  life,  he  suspends  those  laws  when  occasion  de- 
mands. Subject  and  Sovereign!  In  the  one  he 
will  be  imitated,  in  the  other  adored. 

Turn  from  this  to  his  obedience  of  the  law  of 
prudence  in  his  public  ministry.  There  was  danger, 
very  serious  danger,  that  others  would  bring  on  a 
conflict  between  him  and  the  Roman  government. 
Friends  were  often  injudicious.  His  own  family 
tried  to  press  him  into  an  open  and  formal  inaugu- 
ration of  his  Messiahship.  On  the  other  hand,  his 
enemies,  with  adroit  malignity,  sought  to  put  him 
iu  an  attitude  of  hostility  to  the  political  authority. 
Rome  never  had  so  turbulent  a  race  as  the  Jews  to 


358  CHRIST    AND   HIS    WORK. 

govern,  and  in  Christ's  day  Rome's  suspicions  were 
more  easily  aroused  than  at  any  previous  time. 
Christ,  at  every  step,  was  liable  to  be  mistaken  for 
an  insurrectionist.  Fortunately  enough,  the  "Sica- 
rii"  had  not  yet  been  introduced  from  Rome,  the 
reign  of  the  dagger  had  not  begun,  and  "  blood- 
money,"  common  so  soon  afterward,  was  not  now 
known.  Nevertheless,  Jerusalem  was  in  the  pre- 
lude to  this  condition,  and  already  the  air  was  trem- 
ulous with  the  coming  tempest.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances, how  acutely  perplexing  was  Christ's 
position!  Not  a  miracle  could  be  wrought,  not  a 
parable  spoken,  not  a  kindness  shown  to  a  poor  out- 
cast, not  a  quotation  drawn  from  the  Jewish  Script- 
ures, not  a  visit  made  to  the  temple,  not  a  Sabbath 
passed  in  a  synagogue,  not  a  benediction  pronounced 
on  little  children,  not  a  tear  shed  over  the  grave  of 
a  friend,  that  was  not  misunderstood,  perverted, 
turned  against  him.  Can  it  surprise  you  that  he  so 
often  imposed  secrecy  on  the  beneficiaries  of  his 
mercy,  laid  gratitude  under  the  stern  injunction  of 
silence,  and  even  sealed  the  lips  of  the  apostles,  his 
chosen  witnesses?  Had  the  glory  of  the  transfigu- 
ration to  be  remanded  to  the  night,  out  of  whose 
bosom  it  had  flashed  in  unwonted  splendor?  Why 
make  the  first  clear  announcement  of  his  Messiah- 
ship  to  a  fallen  woman,  and  she  a  Samaritan?  The 
answer  to  all  such  questions  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
Christ  had  to  observe  the  utmost  prudence  while 
his  work  was  unfinished.  Men  need  an  example 
like  this  of  strict  conformity  to  the  law  of  prudence. 
The  want  of  prudence  is  the  next  evil  to  the  want 


CHRIST   AND    HIS    WORK. 

of  conscience,  and  it  became  Him  who  was  made 
"under"  this  "law"  to  set  us  an  example  of  the 
blessedness  abiding  in  that  obedience  which  renders 
it  honor.  But  here  too  he  is  a  sovereign.  When  the 
hour  comes  to  withdraw  self-protection,  he  resigns 
himself  to  his  enemies.  "  I  lay  down  my  life."  "No 
man  taketh  it  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  my- 
self." So  that  in  this  instance,  as  before,  we  have 
an  exemplar  to.  follow,  and  the  eternal  Son  of  God 
to  worship. 

Furthermore,  the  spirit  of  his  work  was  the  spirit 
of  infinite  love.  It  was  not  a  love  that  grew  out  of 
tastes  and  imaginative  emotions.  It  was  not  a  love 
that  consulted  fluctuating  interests  and  momentary 
gratifications.  It  was  not  a  love  that  exists  because 
of  reciprocation,  for  "  his  own  received  him  not." 
Not  an  element  of  luxury,  of  romance,  of  self-regard, 
such  as  we  find  so  generally  in  human  affection,  be- 
longed to  it.  Son  of  man  was  he,  and  the  love  was 
therefore  tenderly  human.  Son  of  God  in  an  exclu- 
sive sense  was  he,  and  hence  the  love  was  divine. 
The  two  natures,  although  perfectly  distinct,  were 
as  perfectly  united;  and  they  formed  one  Person, 
who,  out  of  his  infinite  fullness,  the  fullness  that 
"  filleth  all  in  all,"  gave  complete  expression  to  the 
interblended  attributes  of  humanity  and  divinity 
not  only  in  wisdom  and  power,  but  preeminently 
in  love.  The  grandeur  of  that  love  was  in  its  self- 
origination,  its  self-inspiration,  its  self- direction. 
It  knew  no  will  but  the  Father's  will.  It  desired 
no  glory  save  the  Father's  glory.  Toward  man  it 
sought  his  earthly  welfare  in  harmony  with  provi- 


360  CHRIST   AND   HIS   WORK. 

dential  laws,  while  securing  his  spiritual  and  eternal 
well-being  in  reconciliation  with  God  and  conform- 
ity to  his  character. 

Intelligent  love — how  rare  it  is  in  its  higher  forms! 
Christ  was  wise  in  every  act  of  affection.  Martha 
and  Mary,  dear  to  him  as  friends,  sent  for  him  when 
Lazarus  was  ill,  but  he  loved  them  too  much  to  grat- 
ify their  longing  for  his  presence.  The  tenderness 
was  postponed  till  it  could  become  a  miracle.  Dis- 
criminating love — how  seldom  seen!  Christ  showed 
his  regard  for  St.  Peter  and  St.  John  very  differ- 
ently. So,  too,  he  touched  the  hearts  of  the  two 
publicans,  Matthew  and  Zaccheus,  in  unlike  ways. 
But  in  every  case  his  sympathy  assumed  the  ex- 
pression adapted  to  the  object.  Teaching  love,  that 
labors  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  and  binds  itself  down 
to  the  wearisome  monotony  of  helping  the  dull,  the 
obtuse,  the  froward — are  not  men  agreed  that  it  is 
beautiful?  Christ's  immediate  pupils,  after  three 
years'  instruction,  forsook  him  and  fled.  Were  the 
Teacher's  love  and  faithfulness  of  no  avail?  If  the 
pupils  failed  to  understand,  they  failed  not  to  re- 
member, and,  in  a  short  time,  out  of  those  memories 
came  Christianity,  destined  to  reproduce  for  myriads 
the  words  and  images  of  the  Divine  Master.  Mis- 
represented love — does  it  not  find  its  patience  sorely 
taxed  ?  To  have  its  motives  impugned,  its  integrity 
slandered,  its  generosity  vilified,  its  patriotism  stig- 
matized as  treachery,  its  philanthropy  hated  as  Sa- 
tanic— all  these  Christ  had  to  bear.  Despite  of  in- 
gratitude, annoyance,  vexation,  persecution,  his  acts 
of  benevolence  surpassed  detail;  so  that  frequently 


CHRIST    AND   HIS    WORK.  361 

we  have  no  record  except  in  language  like  this: 
"  He  healed  many  that  were  sick  of  divers  diseases, 
and  cast  out  many  devils."  Again,  it  was  atoning 
love.  If  Christ's  love  differed  from  all  other  love  in 
the  variety  and  extent  of  its  earthly  offices,  so  that, 
while  being  human,  it  was  human  in  an  extraordi- 
nary degree,  we  must  seek  the  cause  and  reason  of 
this  in  something  beyond  the  merely  human.  There 
is  no  foundation  in  our  ordinary  nature  for  such  a 
superstructure  as  the  Gospels  present  of  the  teach- 
ings, deeds,  and  self-denial  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  View 
him  as  only  a  man,  and  you  cannot  account  for  his 
manhood.  He  was  "  meek  and  lowly."  Meekness 
and  lowliness  are  human;  Christ's  meekness  and 
lowliness  were  human;  but  the  meekness  of  his 
character,  and  the  lowliness  of  his  outward  condi- 
tion, as  the  sign  of  his  lowly  spirit,  were  impossible 
on  any  known  laws  of  earthly  combination.  Men 
have  been  poor,  but  not  as  Christ  was  poor.  When 
he  gave  the  measure  of  his  poverty,  he  did  not  com- 
pare it  with  that  of  Lazarus  at  Dives's  gate:  "  Foxes 
have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but 
the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head." 
Moreover,  poverty  and  meekness  are  not  natural 
allies.  Still  less  are  they  able  to  say,  "  Learn  of 
me."  Moses  was  the  meekest  of  men,  and  he  gave 
up  Pharaoh's  palace  and  its  "  pleasures,"  yet  he 
never  taught  these  virtues  to  the  Israelites  because 
they  were  traits  of  his  personal  character.  On  the 
contrary,  Jesus  made  them  fundamental  to  the 
Christian  life.  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit," 
opens  the  beatitudes  as  the  day  opens  in  a  low  line 
16 


362  CHRIST    AND   HIS    WORK. 

of  brightness  along  the  horizon.  Did  Christ  teach 
these  qualities  as  matters  of  mere  law  and  ethics? 
Nay;  but  as  qualities  personal  to  himself,  and  com- 
municated from  himself  to  his  disciples.  Most  of 
Christ's  ministry  consisted  in  revealing  his  nature, 
character,  and  offices,  and  he  left  it  to  his  apostles 
to  preach  the  Christianity  which  was  in  him  before 
it  assumed  form  in  doctrines,  duties,  and  sacraments. 
And  hence,  we  urge,  that  Christ's  wisdom  and  good- 
ness, while  thoroughly  human,  were  yet  human  with 
a  spirit  and  in  a  way  inexplicable  by  any  facts  of 
mere  humanity.  He  was  a  man.  He  was  a  perfect 
man.  Farther  than  this,  he  was  the  ideal  man,  not 
son  of  a  man,  but  "  Son  of  man,"  humanity  beget- 
ting him  (so  to  speak)  in  her  ancient  womb  as  the 
first  and  last  product  of  her  supreme  capacity.  As 
such,  he  was  a  man  of  love.  But  the  man,  the  per- 
fect man,  the  ideal  man,  was  not  the  atoning  man. 
The  atoning  Son  of  man  was  the  divine  man.  And 
so  here,  as  before,  we  have  something  to  admire  and 
imitate,  but  infinitely  more  to  honor,  to  reverence, 
and  to  adore. 

Such  a  love  could  only  consummate  its  self-denial 
in  self-sacrifice.  Eighteen  years  at  Nazareth,  three 
years  of  public  ministry — these  were  his  years  of 
self-denial.  It  is  the  self-denial  which  unites  the 
two  periods.  Otherwise,  they  have  no  official  rela- 
tion, no  peculiar  connection,  and,  indeed,  are  con- 
tradictor}r.  Christ's  work  was  mainly  done  before 
entering  on  it  publicly;  and  it  was  done  by  that 
calm,  steady,  and  thorough-going  culture  which  had 
its  root,  trunk,  branches,  foliage,  fruit,  in  patient 


CHRIST    AND    HIS    WORK.  363 

and  persistent  self-denial  at  Nazareth.  No  word 
describing  a  locality  has  such  significance  in  the 
New  Testament  as  Nazareth,  Calvary  excepted. 
Recall  the  scene  in  the  orchard  of  olives  on  the  last 
night.  "  Whom  seek  ye?  They  answered  him, 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  I  am  he." 
Recall  the  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus.  "  Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?  And  I  answered, 
Who  art  thou,  Lord?  And  he  said  unto  me,  I  am 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  thou  persecutest."  When 
he,  in  his  public  career,  so  often  "  charged  them  that 
they  should  tell  no  man  "  who  he  was,  it  was  Naza- 
reth and  its  seclusion  over  again.  Concealment  of 
what  is  lofty,  elevated,  glorious;  concealment  of  ma- 
jestic power,  and  of  those  attributes  which  endow 
intellect  with  rarest  grace  and  loveliness,  is  an  ex- 
ceptional form  of  self-denial.  This  is  what  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  practiced  in  Capernaum  and  Jerusalem, 
and  never  so  signally  as  before  Caiaphas,  Herod, 
and  Pilate.  Yet  it  was  only  one  of  the  manifold 
forms  which  it  assumed.  Is  not  reputation  the  last 
thing  that  men,  good  and  true  men,  ever  think  of 
foregoing?  Christ  "  made  himself  of  no  reputa- 
tion." The  friendship,  services,  devotion  of  his 
friends  to  him,  so  often  mixed  with  those  infirmities 
which  have  a  certain  touch  of  beautiful  weakness  in 
them,  Jesus  restrained.  Neither  in  his  friends  nor 
in  himself  would  he  be  other  than  one  who  had 
"  emptied  "  himself  of  the  glory  belonging  to  his 
nature.  Immediate  success  he  might  have  had. 
The  thousands  he  healed,  comforted,  and  cheered, 
might  have  been  gathered  as  a  retinue  about  him. 


364  CHRIST   AND    HIS    WORK. 

Little  children  would  have  flocked  in  his  path  and 
sung  the  ancient  hosannas  of  Israel  in  his  praise. 
But  these  were  all  denied.  The  diet  of  his  daily 
life  was  the  simplest  hospitality  of  very  plain  peo- 
ple; and  when  he  would  work  his  two  great  mira- 
cles for  the  benefit  of  multitudes,  a  few  loaves  and 
fishes  were  all  that  could  be  commanded.  Now, 
these  things,  taken  in  themselves,  may  be  viewed 
by  some  as  commonplace  matters;  but  in  Jesus 
Christ  they  had  an  infinite  significance.  With 
other  men,  they  are  the  accidents,  or  the  incidents, 
of  human  relations.  With  him,  they  were  the  laws 
of  his  being,  inward  and  spiritual  forces,  expres- 
sions of  his  soul,  just  as  words  were  the  utterance 
of  his  thoughts,  or  acts  of  healing  the  manifesta- 
tion of  his  sympathies.  Yet  why  all  this?  The 
self-denial  is  unique.  Nothing  like  it  was  ever  seen 
before.  What  can  it  mean?  On  its  own  ground, 
and  for  its  own  sake,  it  cannot  be  justified.  In  its 
mere  physical  results  of  diseases  healed,  and  tem- 
poral blessings  bestowed,  it  cannot  be  vindicated. 
As  an  example  only,,  the  means  employed  are  out 
of  all  proportion  to  the  apparent  end.  Was  the 
alabaster-box  of  a  precious  life  to  be  at  last  rudely 
broken,  its  contents  poured  on  the  ground,  and  its 
fragrance  scattered  to  the  winds  of  the  desert  and 
the  sea? 

Thanks  to  God,  there  was  no  "waste!"  The 
wondrous  childhood  of  Jesus,  the  next  eighteen 
years,  the  three  years  following,  went  forward  in 
oneness  of  spirit  and  aim  to  their  ordained  consum- 
mation on  the  cross.  Whv  ho  had  humbled  him- 


CHRIST    AND    HIS    WORK.  365 

self,  and  taken  the  form  of  a  servant;  why  he  had 
repeated  so  far  as  possible  the  original  act  of  humil- 
iation, and  descended  to  circumstances  of  poverty, 
homelessness,  isolation,  and  dependence;  why  he 
was  man  in  such  a  true  sense,  and  yet  in  a  sense  so 
exceptional;  why  he  dwelt  apart  from  the  world  in 
a  loneliness  experienced  by  no  other,  the  solitude 
broken  by  none  save  the  Father,  but,  notwithstand- 
ing, touched  life  at  every  point — this  is  all  plain 
enough  when  we  see  him  accept  the  cross,  on  which, 
"  by  the  grace  of  God,"  he  "  should  taste  death  for 
every  man."  In  the  immortal  issues  of  that  sacri- 
ficial altar  self-denial,  such  as  he  had  exhibited  in 
manifoldness  of  shape,  and  in  life-long  intensity  of 
degree,  has  its  explanation  and  supreme  warrant  in 
the  final  act  of  self-sacrifice.  The  human  was  there 
to  suffer  visibly  and  palpably,  and  likewise  intellect- 
ually and  morally,  his  body  nailed  to  the  cross,  his 
"soul  an  offering  for  sin."  The  Godhead  was  there 
to  impart  dignity  and  merit  by  its  infinitude,  so 
that  the  sacrifice  should  be  as  divinely  glorious  as 
it  was  humanly  perfect.  -Various  terms  present  the 
relations  and  aspects  of  Christ's  death.  Not  one 
of  them  can  be  spared.  Whether,  then,  it  is  spoken 
of  as  vicarious,  expiatory,  propitiatory,  or  in  what- 
ever images  and  illustrations,  make  sure  for  your- 
selves of  this  one  paramount  idea,  that  the  death 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  man,  Son  of  God, 
was  a  death  of  reconciliation — the  reconciliation  of 
God  to  man,  and  of  man  to  God.  "  Through  the 
eternal  Spirit"  he  "  ottered  himself  without  spot  to 
God."  The  ottering  was  sacrificial  in  every  thing 


366  CHRIST    AND    HIS   WORK. 

to  which  the  word  "sacrifice"  can  be  applied.  It 
was  perfect  and  entire,  wanting  nothing.  Justice 
could  ask  no  more  than  he  rendered  to  its  majestic 
claims,  and  the  transcendent  epoch  in  the  annals  of 
its  sovereignty  occurred  when  he  died  on  the  cross. 
Law  had  never  heheld  its  image  so  mirrored  in 
beauty,  so  irradiated  in  truth,  so  magnified  in  holi- 
ness. Grace  had  now  free  course,  and  its  freedom 
was  the  possible  freedom  of  Adam's  enslaved  race. 
It  could  institute  a  new  scheme  of  Providence.  Its 
reign  was  proclaimed  universal.  Angels  were  ar- 
rayed in  its  service,  and  commissioned  to  be  "  min- 
istering spirits  "  to  the  "  heirs  of  salvation."  All 
things  in  heaven  and  on  earth  were  made  one.  Ris- 
ing with  instant  swiftness  from  sea  and  land,  the 
"great  cloud  of  witnesses"  filled  the  ample  spaces 
of  the  firmament,  and  beyond  the  darkening  winds 
lay  in  their  moveless  folds  over  a  redeemed  world. 
Side  by  side  in  the  administrations  of  love  should 
henceforth  be  found  the  cottages  "  where  poor  men 
dwell,"  and  the  sainthood  in  "  Caesar's  household;  " 
side  by  side  the  lowly  huts  of  sorrow  and  the  pal- 
aces of  joy  and  renown;  side  by  side  the  dynasties 
of  the  world's  worthiest  and  best,  though  here  un- 
recognized; and  the  thrones,  principalities,  domin- 
ions of  heavenly  hierarchies,  enriched  in  their  first 
estate,  and  made  happier  by  accessions  of  glory  from 
the  coronation  splendors  of  Him  who  had  returned 
as  their  Head  and  Lord. 

Blessed  be  God  for  such  a  Christ!  for  a  Christ 
who  "  learned  obedience,"  that  we  might  not  only 
understand  the  law  as  transferred  from  "  tables  of 


CHRIST    AND    HIS    WORK.  367 

stone  "  to  his  heart,  but  see  how  to  obey  by  the  light 
of  his  divine  example !  for  a  Christ  whose  right- 
eousness is  reckoned  as  ours  when  we  believe  and 
enter  thereby  into  the  fellowship  of  his  suiferings 
and  death  !  for  a  Christ  whose  perfection  of  merit 
covers  our  infirmities  no  less  than  our  sins,  redeems 
us  from  the  insignificance  and  wretchedness  which 
plunge  us  deeper  into  the  abysses  of  evil,  and  com- 
pletes the  motives  to  holiness  by  making  us  "joint- 
heirs  "  with  him  in  the  glories  of  his  kingdom !  Only 
through  him  have  we  the  true  sense  of  sin,  so  much 
more  profound  and  self- revealing  than  the  super- 
ficial sense  of  sins.  Evil  has  ingrained  itself  no- 
where in  our  nature  so  thoroughly  as  in  the  capacity 
to  believe,  and  hence  unbelief  is  the  stronghold  of 
depravity.  Christ  taught  the  faith  of  the  heart,  and 
thereby  secured  its  ascendency  among  the  principles 
of  human  action.  The  heart  had  lost  its  rightful 
place  in  man.  Conscience  still  uttered  its  witness, 
though  faint,  in  behalf  of  truth  and  goodness;  but 
the  heart  had  been  dethroned  from  its  seat,  its  influ- 
ence sacrificed  to  the  intellect  of  the  senses,  and  its 
authority  crushed  beneath  the  tyranny  of  Satan. 
Christ  restored  the  heart's  supremacy.  Follow  his 
footsteps  day  by  day,  and  whither  is  he  treading? 
Always  in  some  pathway  leading  to  human  affec- 
tion. One  hour  he  is  gaining  access  to  a  father's 
heart,  as  in  the  instance  of  the  ruler  (Matt.  ix.  18); 
then  to  a  mother's  heart,  as  in  the  cases  of  the 
widow  of  N"ain  and  the  Syrophenician  woman; 
again  to  a  sister's  heart,  as  in  the  example  of  the 
bereaved  Martha  and  Marv;  and  oftentimes  to 


368  CHRIST   AND   HIS   WORK. 

hearts  barred  against  society,  as  Levi's  and  Zac- 
cheus's,  or  to  those  in  whom  it  lay  buried  beneath 
the  ashes  of  despair — outcasts,  lepers,  demoniacs — to 
whom  gentle  tones  and  tender  acts  were  alien  and 
forgotten  things.  In  all  these  beneficent  deeds  he 
was  seeking  the  soul  of  the  sinner.  Bread  from 
heaven  was  in  those  Galilean  baskets  that  were 
.filled  on  the  mountain-side  when  the  multitudes 
feasted  on  his  bounty;  Bread  from  Galilean  bas- 
kets still  supplies  the  world.  The  spiritual  Physi- 
cian, the  spiritual  Benefactor  and  Friend,  appeared 
in  the  earthly  Healer  and  Helper.  So  that  we  never 
hear  such  words  as  Behold  the  Philanthropist,  the  Hu- 
manitarian, the  Reformer!  but  those  other  and  infi- 
nitely greater  words,  '•'•Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world!" 

Thus  it  is  that  we  are  "  complete  in  him."  Late 
in  life,  St.  Paul's  absorbing  idea  was  the  "  plenitude  " 
in  Christ,  Image  of  the  Invisible  God,  First-born  of 
creation,  eternal  Word,  only  Potentate,  only  Medi- 
ator. Though  not  obscured  in  the  earlier  Epistles 
to  the  Corinthians  and  Romans,  it  is  set  forth  in  the 
Epistles  to  the  Philippians  and  Ephesians  in  a  man- 
ner signally  resplendent.  Nor  is  this  .surprising. 
A  great  river  like  the  Amazon,  as  it  approaches  its 
mouth,  feels  the  strong  waves  of  the  ocean  pressing 
up  into  its  channel,  and  mingling  the  mighty  tide 
with  its  own  waters.  Overhead  the  sky  is  changed. 
No  longer  in  its  bosom  lie  the  shadows  of  forests 
and  mountains,  but  instead  thereof  the  tranquil 
heavens  reflect  their  beauty.  So  it  was  that  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  feeling  "  the  powers  of  the 


CHRIST    AND   HIS   WORK.  869 

world  to  come,"  expanded  in  the  conception  and  re- 
alization of  Christ's  fullness.  Natural  age  is  a  fore- 
tokening of  death — Christian  age  a  prophecy  of  im- 
mortality; and  how  much  it  was  like  "Paul  the 
aged"  to  anticipate  the  near  future  in  outbursts  of 
rapture! 

Such  a  Christ!  What  a  dreadful  mystery  it  is 
that  any  man  should  be  willing  to  live  and  die  un- 
saved by  him!  It  is  to  the  heaven  of  his  presence 
to  which  his  followers  are  exalted,  but  it  is  to  the 
hell  "  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  "  that 
his  enemies  are  banished.  The  everlasting  anguish 
of  remorse  will  be  not  merely  the  loss  of  the  soul, 
but,  greater  still,  the  loss  of  Christ.  "  Depart  from 
Me!"  This,  ah!  this  is  the  woe  of  exile! 

Such  a  Christ !  The  idea  of  human  nature,  which 
found  its  first  embodiment  in  Adam,  is  now  per- 
fected in  the  ideal  revealed  in  him.  "  What  lack  I 
yet? "  asked  the  young  man.  Wealth,  virtue,  beauty 
of  character — these  he  had;  but  he  lacked  Christ. 
And  of  what  avail  were  all  his  possessions?  Man- 
hood now  has  a  value  immeasurable.  Its  capacity 
to  sufier  and  enjoy  has  been  largely  enhanced.  Its 
destiny  for  good  or  evil  has  been  vastly  augmented. 
If  we  view  this  matter  rightly,  it  is  a  glorious  thing 
to  be  a  man.  Long  time  the  one-hundredth  Psalm 
waited  the  fulfillment  of  its  joy.  Only  a  few  elect 
spirits  entered  into  the  meaning  of  the  words,  "  It 
is  he  that  hath  made  us,  and  not  we  ourselves.  .  . 
Enter  into  his  gates  with  thanksgiving,  and  into  his 
courts  with  praise."  Long  time  men  understood 
not  that  human  nature  was  a  ground  of  "  thanks- 
16* 


370  CHRIST   AND   HIS   WORK. 

giving"  and  "praise."  Alas!  many  are  in  our 
midst  who  hear  no  melody  in  this  sublime  hymn 
of  gratitude.  But  wherever  Christ  Jesus  is  ac- 
cepted, loved,  and  served,  there  the  soul  rejoices  in 
the  blessedness  of  humanity,  and  looks  forward  ex- 
ultingly  to  the  day  when  it  shall  utter  its  thankful- 
ness in  the  song,  "  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath 
made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  his  Father, 
to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  forever  and  ever. 
Amen." 


THK  HRV.  O.  P.  FITZGERALD,  D.D., 
Of  the  Pacific  Conteience. 


XIX. 

THE  GREAT  AWAKENING. 

BY  THE  REV.  0.  P.  FITZGERALD,  D.D., 

Editor  of  the  "Christian  Advocate." 

"And  from  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist  until  now  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence,  and  the  violent  taketh 
it  by  force."  Matt.  xi.  12. 

JOHN  THE  BAPTIST  was  the  agent,  under  God,  of 
the  greatest  religious  awakening  ever  known.  Let 
us  consider — 

I.  THE  CHARACTERISTIC  FEATURES  OF  THIS  AWAKENING. 

The  general  conditions  were  favorable.  The  nation- 
al mind  was  in  a  state  of  excited  expectancy.  The 
people  were  looking  for  the  Messiah — not  the  meek 
and  lowly  Jesus,  but  a  mighty  prince  of  the  line  of 
David,  who  would  unfurl  the  conquered  banner  of 
Israel,  lift  it  aloft,  and  call  her  sons  to  follow  it  to 
victory. 

The  hour  had  come,  and  the  man  appeared.  In 
those  days  came  John  the  Baptist,  preaching  in  the  wil- 
derness of  Judea,  and  saying,  Repent  ye,  for  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  at  hand.  .  .  .  Bring  forth  fruits  meet 
for  repentance.  This  was  the  stern  and  fiery  mes- 
sage of  the  man  of  God.  It  went  home  to  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  soon  was  witnessed  the 
sublime  spectacle  of  a  whole  nation  awakened,  re- 
penting, and  seeking  baptism  at  his  hands. 

(371) 


372  THE    GREAT   AWAKENING. 

The  great  movement  went  forward.  John,  fear- 
ing not  the  face  of  man,  preached  repentance  and 
restitution  to  the  wicked  Herod,  and  was  thrown 
into  prison.  He  had  done  his  work.  No!  his  work 
was  not  fully  done,  nor  his  ministry  ended,  until  he 
had  sealed  the  truth  with  his  blood.  His  last  ser- 
mon was  preached  in  the  tyrant's  palace,  when  his 
trunkless  head,  with  glazed  eyes  and  lips  that  were 
mute,  was  presented  to  Herod  and  his  partner  in  sin, 
and  woke  a  Sinai  of  terror  in  their  guilty  souls. 
John's  ministry  would  have  been  incomplete  with- 
out its  tragic  ending.  I  greatly  misjudge  him  if 
death  by  martyrdom  was  not  the  very  thing  that 
suited  his  heroic  nature.  John  was  in  every  respect 
adapted  to  his  work.  The  agent  employed  by  God 
is  adequate  to  the  task  in  hand,  whether  it  be  to 
nurse  a  little  flock  in  the  wilderness,  or  to  shake  a 
kingdom.  There  is  no  provision  for  doubt  or  dan- 
ger of  failure  in  any  enterprise  sanctioned  by  the 
authority  and  backed  by  the  power  of  the  Highest. 
The  minister  of  the  gospel,  fortified  and  inspired  by 
this  conviction,  feeling  assured  that  God  has  called 
him  to  do  a  special  work,  enters  upon  it  with  a  se- 
rene confidence  utterly  inexplicable  to  the  world. 
The  handful  of  Protestant  missionaries  among  the 
hundreds  of  millions  of  heathen  in  the  vast  Chinese 
empire  are  as  hopeful  of  ultimate  success  as  the 
great  lights  of  the  pulpit  in  the  capitals  of  evangel- 
ical Christendom.  They  have  the  promise  of  God, 
and  know  that  the  infinite  resources  of  the  Al- 
mighty One  guarantee  its  fulfillment.  This  is  the 
hiding-place  of  ministerial  power.  They  who  lack 


THE    GREAT    AWAKENING.  373 

« 

this  inwrought  persuasion  of  the  divine  presence 
and  help  become  the  Jonahs  that  shirk,  the  Demas- 
es  that  go  back,  and  the  Judases  that  betray.  With 
the  divine  afflatus  upon  him,  and  the  word  of  the 
Lord  as  a  fire  in  his  bones,  John  neither  doubted 
nor  delayed. 

The  people  were  expectant  and  receptive.  They  were 
looking  for  the  birth  of  some  great  event.  This 
is  an  important  fact  in  this  connection.  Almost 
any  thing  is  better  than  apathy  and  dull  stagna- 
tion. Where  there  is  no  expectation  there  shall 
be  no  achievement.  The  Jewish  people  had  passed 
through  such  a  phase  of  experience.  Their  relig- 
ion had  lost  its  vitality.  Their  national  life  had 
been  crushed  under  the  iron  heel  of  Rome.  They 
had  sunk  into  the  gloom  of  sullen  despair,  relieved 
by  an  occasional  flicker  of  the  dying  lamp  of  their 
nationality-.  Their  teachers  and  guides,  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees,  were  corrupt,  and  the  masses  of  the 
people  were  no  better  than  their  leaders.  A  few 
still  read  the  Scriptures,  studied  the  prophecies, 
maintained  their  faith  in  God,  and  were  looking  for 
the  redemption  of  Israel.  But  a  change  had  come 
over  the  spirit  of  the  people — a  mighty  reaction. 
The  prophecies  concerning  the  Messiah  were  re- 
membered and  repeated;  the  patriotism  of  the  na- 
tion, dormant  under  the  stern  and  cruel  repression 
of  Roman  policy,  awoke  to  new  life — and  multi- 
tudes were  looking  for  some  new  manifestation  of 
the  power  of  God.  The  feeling  deepened,  the  ex- 
citement increased.  With  some,  it  was  a  correct 
understanding  of  the  Scriptures  that  kindled  expec- 


374  THE    GREAT   AWAKENING. 

tation;  with  others,  doubtless,  it  was  simply  sym- 
pathetic feeling  that  swept  them  on  with  the  tide 
of  popular  excitement.  There  is  in  all  communi- 
ties a  large  class  of  persons  who  float  with  the  cur- 
rent. Happy  is  it  for  them  when,  as  in  this  instance, 
the  current  flows  in  the  right  direction !  As  men's 
sympathies  so  often  lead  them  hellward,  why  not 
allow  their  sympathies  to  lead  them  heavenward? 
Every  instinct  and  susceptibility  of  human  nature 
may  be  made  to  work  for,  not  against,  the  salva- 
tion of  the  soul.  When  a  great  movement  sets 
the  right  way,  move  with  it.  Take  the  flood-tide. 
Know  the  day  of  your  visitation,  and  make  the 
most  of  it.  Do  not  be  afraid  of  excitement.  The 
excitements  of  the  world  draw  our  loved  ones  from 
the  altars  of  the  Church  into  the  paths  of  sin,  and 
down  to  hell,  and  it  requires  a  counteracting  excite- 
ment to  bring  them  to  Jesus.  There  is  nothing  to 
fear  from  excitement  if  God  be  in  it  in  the  power 
of  his  truth  and  the  demonstration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

The  special  circumstances  were  favorable  to  the  con- 
centration of  thought  upon  the  subject  of  religion.  It 
was  a  happy  inspiration  in  John  that  led  him  to 
call  the  people  out  of  the  cities  and  towns  into  the 
country.  The  country  is  the  place  for  concentrated 
and  earnest  thought.  The  voices  of  Nature  "  soothe 
the  throbbing  passions  into  peace,"  her  sights  charm 
and  tranquilize  the  soul,  and  it  is  thus  made  more 
receptive  of  truth  and  grace.  When  a  man  begins 
to  think  earnestly,  he  will  soon  begin  to  feel  deeply. 
The  trouble  with  many  is  that  they  will  not  think; 


THE    GREAT    AWAKENING.  375 

they  smother  thought  on  the  solemn  and  moment- 
ous questions  of  religion.  The  consequence  is,  that 
their  lives  are  as  purposeless  and  unstable  as  their 
ideas  are  vague.  /  thought  on  my  ways,  and  turned 
my  feet  unto  thy  testimonies,  was  the  testimony  of  a 
man  who  had  sounded  all  the  depths  of  religious 
experience.  Ponder  the  paths  of  your  feet.  Get 
away  from  the  crowded  haunts  of  men;  recover 
your  individuality;  "  re-collect "  yourself,  as  the  old 
German  divines  express  it.  Stop  and  think  now, 
lest  too  late  you  wake  to  thoughts  of  despair. 

Under  the  mighty  impulse  that  stirred  their  hearts,  the 
people  broke  through  all  conventionalities.  An  earnest 
man  was  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God  with  strange 
boldness  and  power.  Called  of  God,  he  had  waited 
for  no  other  credentials,  but  began  at  once  to  pro- 
claim his  message.  Here  was  a  new  thing  under 
the  sun.  Like  cobwebs  before  a  tornado,  conven- 
tionalities were  swept  away  by  the  breath  of  the 
Lord.  Ecclesiastical  and  social  barriers  were  broken 
through;  temporizing  regard  for  popularity  and 
profit  was  laid  aside.  The  people  pressed  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven;  they  took  it  by  the  force  of  an 
earnestness  that  could  not  be  resisted.  Know  ye 
that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  can  be  entered  in  no 
other  way.  But  to  how  many  are  the  petty  con- 
ventionalities of  life  impassable  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  their  salvation!  The  traditions  of  family 
prejudice,  the  dicta  of  a  circle  of  triflers,  the  sneer 
of  a  skeptic,  or  the  laugh  of  a  fool — these  bar  the 
way,  and  nothing  but  the  holy  violence  of  genuine 
earnestness  will  be  able  to  break  through  them. 


376  THE    GREAT    AWAKENING. 

He  that  loveth  mother  or  father,  or  houses  or  lands, 
more  than  Me,  is  not  worthy  of  Me.  That  is  to  say, 
all  family  ties,  all  social  surroundings,  all  temporal 
advantages,  must  be  held  in  subordination  to  the 
claims  of  God  and  the  paramount  interests  of  the 
immortal  soul.  There  is  no  salvation  promised  or 
possible  to  temporizing  and  compromising.  All 
must  be  given  up  for  Christ. 

The  people,  in  their  earnestness,  got  ahead  of  their  re- 
ligious teachers.  Their  instructors  and  guides  were 
asleep.  They  would  neither  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  nor  permit  others  to  enter  in  if  they  could 
prevent  it.  It  was  impossible  for  a  self-seeking, 
conceited,  ambitious  hierarchy,  to  accept  the  gospel 
of  repentance  and  restitution.  This  was  substan- 
tially affirmed  of  them  in  the  scorching  reproach  of 
Jesus:  How  can  ye  believe  which  seek  honor  one  of  an- 
other, and  seek  not  the  honor  that  comethfrom  God  only  ? 
As  much  as  was  in  their  power  they  obstructed  the 
way  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  So  the  common 
people  had  to  push  by  them  or  over  them — and  this 
they  did.  Even  the  publicans  and  harlots  pressed 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  before  them.  This  is 
the  earnestness  that  succeeds.  When  the  salvation 
of  the  soul  is  at  stake,  let  nothing  hinder  you,  let 
nobody  get  in  your  way.  Do  not  wait  to  be  coaxed, 
or  led,  or  propped,  or  lifted  by  human  agency.  Lay 
hold  of  the  hope  set  before  you  in  the  strength  of  a 
fixed  determination,  with  reliance  upon  God,  know- 
ing that  the  excellency  of  the  power  that  saves  is 
his.  Human  agency  is  not  to  be  despised  or  re- 
jected. It  pleases  God  to  employ  men  in  saving 


THE    GREAT   AWAKENING.  377 

one  another.  But,  after  all,  it  is  not  by  might,  nor 
by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord.  The 
honest,  earnest  soul  will  find  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
— to  such  it  is  always  at  hand. 

The  people,  in  their  earnestness,  did  not  shrink  from 
a  little  discomfort.  They  left  their  pleasant  city 
homes,  and  went  out  to  hear  the  great  preacher 
who  used  such  plainness  of  speech,  and  who  de- 
manded an  obedience  so  rigid.  They  did  not  prize 
their  ease  above  their  salvation.  Laziness  and  lux- 
ury destroy  their  thousands.  He  who  prefers  to 
spend  the  precious  hours  of  the  holy  Sabbath-day 
in  novel-reading,  or  to  sleep  them  away  in  luxurious 
unconsciousness,  rather  than  undergo  the  exertion 
of  an  hour's  serious  thought,  repels  all  gracious  in- 
fluence, and  forfeits  every  promise  made  to  the  ear- 
nest seeker  after  God.  He  who  shrinks  from  the 
penitential  pain  resulting  from  self-examination 
and  true  self-knowledge  is  far  from  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  The  philosophy  of  the  success  of  camp- 
meetings,  and  other  special  agencies  of  like  charac- 
ter, may  here  be  found.  The  very  effort  necessary 
to  make  use  of  such  agencies  detaches  the  people 
from  their  settled  habits,  lifts  them  out  of  the  ruts 
into  which  they  had  sunk,  and  prepares  them  for 
new  departures  and  better  lives.  Old  truths  are  in- 
vested with  a  fresh  interest  when  presented  under 
new  conditions.  The  crowds  that  hung  upon  the 
lips  of  John  on  the  sacred  banks  of  the  Jordan,  un- 
der the  broad,  blue  sky,  amid  the  capaciousness  and 
freedom  of  Nature,  were  affected  very  differently 
from  what  would  have  been  the  case  had  the  same 


378  THE    GREAT    AWAKENING. 

truths  been  spoken  amid  the  cramped  convention- 
alities and  traditionary  routine  of  a  synagogue  in 
the  city. 

John's  preaching. — That  strange,  wild  man,  with 
his  lion  heart  and  tongue  of  fire,  preaching  repent- 
ance and  announcing  the  coming  kingdom  of  heav- 
en, touched  the  conscience  of  the  nation,  arid  there 
was  a  mighty  stir  in  that  mass  of  formalism,  big- 
otry, and  hypocrisy.  There  was  a  national  revival 
of  religion  on  that  basis.  There  is  no  other  basis 
for  a  real  revival.  The  preaching  that  does  not 
reach  the  conscience  falls  short  of  its  true  aim, 
which  is  the  conversion  of  souls.  Paul,  Peter,  and 
all  the  apostles,  preached  to  the  consciences  of  their 
hearers.  The  sermon  that  cost  Stephen  his  life,  and 
hastened  his  ascent  to  meet  his  Lord  in  the  heavens, 
was  such  an  indictment  of  his  audience,  such  a 
searching  of  their  evil  consciences,  that  when  they 
heard  they  were  cut  to  the  heart,  and  by  the  power 
of  truth  were  brought  to  a  moral  crisis  where  they 
must  yield  to  the  messenger  of  God,  or  silence  his 
fearless  voice  by  murder.  Our  Lord  himself  ad- 
dressed the  consciences  of  his  hearers  with  a  direct- 
ness and  pungency  that  left  no  room  for  evasion  or 
escape.  Preaching  directed  to  the  sensibilities,  the 
imagination,  and  to  the  logical  faculty,  has  its  place. 
The  moral  nature  of  man  is  a  unit,  and  every  part 
of  it  is  moved  upon  by  the  gospel,  and  molded, 
guided,  and  developed,  in  the  process  of  salvation. 
But  for  purposes  of  real  awakening  and  conversion, 
the  conscience  must  be  laid  hold  of  by  that  truth 
which  is  9.  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of 


THE    GREAT    AWAKENING. 

the  heart.  The  will,  the  rudder  that  directs  the 
course  and  destiny  of  the  soul,  never  turns  to  God 
until  an  enlightened  and  awakened  conscience  rouses 
it  to  action.  John  Wesley  was  in  respect  to  this 
truth  a  second  John  the  Baptist.  The  great  relig- 
ious movement  inaugurated  by  him  was  in  its  be- 
ginning simply  an  awakening  of  the  conscience  of 
a  sleeping,  backslidden  people.  The  superficiality 
and  feebleness  of  religious  life  in  our  Churches  to- 
day is  doubtless  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  this 
feature  is  less  prominent  in  our  pulpits  than  in  the 
days  of  our  fathers.  The  humanitarian  philosophy 
that  attracts  applauding  crowds  to  the  ministry  of 
men  who  have  the  gift  of  genius,  but  not  of  the 
Holy  Spirit;  the  salvation-made-easy  methods  of  a 
class  of  modern  teachers  who  reduce  the  whole  proc- 
ess of  the  regeneration  of  a  soul  to  the  assent  of 
the  mind  to  a  syllogism;  the  substitution  of  exter- 
nal ceremonies  for  the  internal  work,  the  soul-awak- 
ening and  soul-subduing  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
the  tendency  observable  in  so  many  who  are  set  for 
the  defense  of  the  faith  to  come  down  from  their 
vantage-ground  and  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord 
with  the  carnal  weapons  employed  by  their  adver- 
saries— are  not  these  the  main  causes  of  the  weak- 
ness of  the  Church  and  the  growing  infidelity  of  the 
age?  In  every  pulpit  in  the  land  is  needed  a  John 
the  Baptist  to  proclaim  the  law  of  God  as  with  the 
thunder  and  flame  of  Sinai,  that  a  righteous  and 
holy  God  may  be  reenthroned  in  the  consciences, 
the  hearts,  and  the  lives,  of  a  favored  but  thankless 
and  sinful  people.  God  of  our  fathers,  call,  com- 


380  THE    GREAT    AWAKENING. 

mission,  anoint,  and  send  forth  men  after  thine  own 
heart  for  this  mighty  work ! 

Such  were  the  characteristics  of  the  great  revival 
under  the  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist.  It  was 
under  these  conditions  and  in  this  spirit  that  the 
people  pressed  their  way  into  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en, taking  it,  as  the  text  tells  us,  by  violence.  It 
remains  briefly  to  speak  of — 

II.  THE  FRUITS  OF  THIS  AWAKENING. 

An  interesting  inquiry  presents  itself:  What  was 
the  blessing  obtained  by  the  subjects  and  beneficia- 
ries of  this  great  revival  ?  It  seems  enough  to  say  that 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  ever  the  same  in  its  essen- 
tial elements — the  same  in  its  Author,  the  same  in  its 
principles,  and  essentially  the  same  in  its  methods. 
The  people  pressed  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as 
it  was  then  presented  to  them.  They  laid  hold  of 
the  hope  set  before  them.  And  it  was  a  tangible 
thing  to  them,  something  they  knew  they  possessed, 
and  in  the  possession  of  which  they  rejoiced.  Our 
Lord  himself  testified  to  this  fact,  saying:  He 
[John]  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light;  and  ye  were 
willing  for  a  season  to  rejoice  in  his  light.  It  matters 
not  that  many  of  them  failed  at  the  last,  stumbling 
at  the  cross,  rejecting  the  crucified  Jesus.  John  did 
his  appointed  work.  He  prepared  the  way  of  the 
Lord.  By  him  Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  and 
the  other  disciples,  were  made  ready  for  the  moment 
when  the  One  greater  than  he  should  say  to  them, 
Come,  follow  Me.  The  "great  multitude"  of  Jews 
that  believed  had  received  the  baptism,  and  realized 


THE    GREAT   AWAKENING.  381 

their  first  impulse  toward  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
from  the  Forerunner,  whose  light  was  as  that  of  the 
glad  dawn  between  the  star-illumined  night  of  the 
law  and  the  prophets  and  the  full-orbed  glory  of  the 
risen  Sun  of  righteousness. 

After  the  crucifixion,  the  ascension,  and  the  Pen- 
tecost, there  was  a  fuller  development  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven;  but,  let  it  be  repeated,  there  was  no 
essential  change  in  its  operative  agencies,  its  prin- 
ciples, or  its  methods.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  all  times  that  revelation  of  the  truth,  and  that 
manifestation  of  the  grace,  of  God  that  satisfies  the 
inquiring  mind  and  the  receptive  heart. 

We  may  then  ask,  What  is  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en now?  And  we  are  not  left  in  any  doubt:  The. 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy,  in 
the  Holy  Ghost.  (See  Horn.  xiv.  17.) 

1.  Righteousness. — The  righteousness  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  the  righteousness  of  pardon  and 
of  purity,  of  justification  and  regeneration.     Being 
justified  by  faith,  and  born  of  the  Spirit,  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  set  up  within  the  believing  soul. 
Its  reception  is  conditioned  on  nothing  but  the  faith 
of  the  heart  and  the  obedience  of  the  will.     Blessed 
be  God,  nothing  can  prevent  the  entrance  of  the 
willing  soul  into  this  kingdom  of  heaven !     Its  door 
was  opened  wide  by  the  hand  that  was  nailed  to  the 
cross  for  sinners,  and  none  may  shut  it  against  him 
who  heeds  the  voice  of  Jesus  saying,  Come! 

2.  Peace. — Peace  follows  pardon.     This  peace  is 
the  believer's  consciousness  of  the  favor  of  God 
by  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit.      The  Spirit  itself 


382  THE    GREAT    AWAKENING. 

beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  children 
of  God.  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  peace.  He  who 
is  a  stranger  to  this  peace  is  a  stranger  to  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  Whoso  possesses  it  has  the  secret 
of  the  Lord.  Perfect  trust  brings  perfect  peace. 
The  kingdom  of  heaven!  The  words  are  deep  in 
their  meaning,  and  carry  a  whole  heaven  of  sugges- 
tion to  him  who  knows  by  experience.  It  is  the 
land  of  Beulah  this  side  the  river  of  death,  where 
the  sun  shineth  night  and  day,  and  where  pilgrims 
may  rest  and  rejoice  safely,  their  King  having 
brought  them  to  his  banqueting-house,  where  his 
banner  over  them  is  love.  The  kingdom  of  heaven! 
It  is  the  blossom  here  of  the  flower  whose  fruit  is 
eternal  life,  the  possession  by  the  believer  initially 
of  that  winch  is  to  constitute  the  essential  elements 
of  his  eternal  felicity  when,  freed  from  the  disabili- 
ties and  limitations  of  earth,  he  shall  join  the  glo- 
rified millions  on  the  mount  of  God. 

3.  Joy. — Peace  deepens  into  joy  in  the  soul  in 
which  the  kingdom  of  heaven  has  been  set  up.  It 
is  the  consciousness  of  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad 
in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  given  unto 
all  true  believers.  It  is  the  assurance  of  faith,  the 
joy  of  an  assured  hope.  We  are  the  sons  of  God 
now,  but  it  doth  not  appear  what  we  shall  be.  The 
kingdom  of  heaven,  which  begins  in  grace  here, 
shall  culminate  in  the  glory  that  excelleth  hereafter. 
The  sure  word  of  promise  is  ours,  and  we  rejoice  in 
hope.  We  hope  for  that  we  see  not  except  with  the 
eye  of  faith,  and  with  patience  we  wait  for  it.  We 
can  afford  to  wait,  and  rejoice  while  we  are  waiting, 


THE   GREAT   AWAKENING.  383 

for  the  philosophy  of  our  faith  is  this:  that  as  God 
is  true  to  every  blessed  promise  that  has  reference 
to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  now,  so  he  will  also  fulfill 
every  promise  that  has  reference  to  the  better  life  to 
corne.  He  gives  grace  now,  he  will  give  glory  then. 

Seek  now  this  kingdom  of  heaven.  Whosoever 
will  may  take  it  now.  All  things  are  ready.  Take 
it  by  the  force  of  an  earnest  purpose;  take  it  in  the 
strength  of  the  Lord;  take  it  by  the  exercise  of  a 
courage  that  defies  all  opposing  influences,  and  a 
faith  that  claims  what  God  offers  so  freely  to  give. 

The  "now"  of  the  text  is  not  an  echo,  but  the 
voice  of  the  living  Jesus.  The  door  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  was  not  shut  when  John's  faithful  voice 
was  silenced,  but  only  opened  wider,  that  every  pen- 
itent, earnest,  yearning  soul,  may  press  into  it,  and 
possess  its  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy,  forever. 


XX. 

LIFE  LOST  AND  FOUND. 

BY  THE  EEV.  JOHN  C.  GRANBERY,  D.B., 

Vanderbtti  University. 

"  He  that  findeth  his  life  shall  lose  it;  and  he  that  loseth 
his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it."  Matt.  x.  39. 

A  MAN  sits  at  night-fall  in  his  own  chamber  with 
bowed  head  and  troubled  face.  What  is  the  matter? 
"  I  have  lost  a  whole  day,"  is  his  sad  reply.  No 
small  loss  is  this  to  one  who  knows  the  value  of 
time.  It  is  irreparable.  Where  shall  he  search  for 
the  lost  hours?  The  shadow  goes  not  back  upon 
the  dial.  Time  is  ever  giving  to  eternity  past,  and 
never  recovers.  Time  is  ever  borrowing  from  eter- 
nity to  come,  but  our  days  are  numbered,  and  soon 
they  will  all  have  been  told,  and  not  one  can  be  add- 
ed— this  makes  them  precious. 

"  I  have  lost  a  day!  "  How  shall  he  be  consoled? 
But  hear  the  cry  of  this  despairing  wretch:  "My 
life  is  lost!"  The  lost  life,  neither  in  whole  nor  in 
part,  can  be  restored. 

Many  spend  life  without  learning  its  true  worth. 
They  never  taste  its  sweetest  flavor.  They  never 
use  its  mystic  power.  Life  is  to  them  like  a  rough 
gem  in  the  hands  of  a  rustic  ignorant  of  its  pre- 
ciousness:  he  has  it,  and  yet  he  has  it  not;  for  it  is 
no  better  in  his  eyes  than  a  common  pebble,  and  it 

(384) 


LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND.  385 

does  him  no  service.  Life  is  to  them  like  a  rare 
medicinal  herb  in  the  garden  of  a  man  who  con- 
founds it  with  useless  weeds;  he  understands  not 
its  healing  virtue,  and  is  not  advantaged  by  its  pos- 
session. Life  is  to  them  like  a  magnetic  needle  to 
a  traveler  who  knows  not  its  relation  to  the  polar 
star,  and  therefore  finds  in  it  no  guidance;  it  is  to 
him  a  dull  mineral,  or,  at  most,  a  pretty  toy. 

In  an  English  graveyard  is  this  epitaph:  "  What 
I  kept,  I  lost;  what  I  spent,  I  had;  what  I  gave,  I 
have."  Confederate  money  furnishes  a  good  illus- 
tration :  What  you  kept  proved  an  utter  loss ;  what 
you  spent,  you  enjoyed  at  the  time;  what  you  gave 
to  the  relief  of  need  and  the  cause  of  Christ,  you 
still  have  in  the  testimony  of  conscience,  the  knowl- 
edge of  good  done,  and  the  blessing  of  God.  The 
same  principle  applies  to  all  worldly  treasure,  for  it 
possesses  value  only  during  a  limited  period. 

Who  loses  his  life?  He  that  tindeth  it,  says  the 
text.  "  Whosoever  will  save  his  life,"  we  read  in 
Mark — that  is,  whosoever  wills  to  save  it.  "  He  that 
loveth  his  life  "  is  John's  statement  of  the  Master's 
words.  Who  finds  his  life?  "He  that  loseth  his 
life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it;  "  "  Whosoever  shall 
lose  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the  gospel's  the  same 
shall  save  it ;  "  "  He  that  hateth  his  life  in  this  world 
shall  keep  it  unto  life  eternal."  Let  us  study  this 
paradox. 

I.  It  is  true  of  life  in  its  literal  sense. 

He  who  supremely  loves  and  seeks  life  loses  this 
blessing.  In  the  excess  of  his  zeal  he  overshoots 
the  mark.  He  is  in  perpetual  terror  lest  it  be  lost. 
17 


386  LIFE    LOST   AND    FOUND. 

He  fears  the  assassin.  He  fears  fatal  accident.  He 
fears  the  epidemic.  Sick,  he  fears  that  he  will  grow 
worse  and  die.  Strong,  he  fears  that  he  will  he 
stricken  down  by  a  sudden  attack.  He  fears  in  the 
storm,  on  the  rail,  on  the  sea.  He  is  ever  haunted 
and  hunted  by  this  grim  specter,  Death.  The  un- 
certainty of  life  is  to  him  a  torment,  and  there  is  no 
means  by  which  it  can  be  assured  even  for  an  hour. 
The  absolute  certainty  that  it  is  wasting,  and  will 
in  a  few  years  be  gone,  is  another  torment;  for  he 
loves  nothing  except  this  life,  and  he  shudders  and 
shrinks  back  at  the  cold,  dark,  desolate  prospect  of 
the  grave.  Does  he  not  lose  his  life  ?  If  his  fears  do 
not  actually  extinguish  like  a  blast  the  vital  flame,  do 
not  hurry  him  to  the  hated  tomb,  they  do  prevent 
the  use  and  pleasure  of  life.  %He  resembles  Damo- 
cles, who  sat  at  the  sumptuous  feast  with  a  keen 
appetite,  until  his  eye  caught  the  glittering,  sus- 
pended sword,  and  then  for  terror  he  could  not  taste 
a  morsel.  The  undue  intensity  of  the  love  of  life 
keeps  the  skeleton  ever  present  to  his  imagination. 
Neither  day  nor  night  can  calm  that  fluttering  heart. 
He  dies  a  hundred  deaths.  He  can  say,  but  in  a 
very  different  sense  from  Paul,  "  I  die  daily;  I  have 
the  sentence  of  death  in  myself."  The  apostle  was 
peaceful  and  confident  amid  the  thick-flying  darts 
of  death,  and  in  bodily  weakness  and  pain ;  this  man 
is  pale  with  fright  in  health  and  apparent  safety. 

The  Christian  may  be  said  to  lose  his  life  in  the 
act  of  consecration.  He  becomes  a  free-will  offer- 
ing, a  living  sacrifice.  He  parts  with  life  in  giving 
it  to  the  Lord.  He  is  not  his  own;  his  life  is  the 


LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND.  387 

property  of  another.  He  claims  not  the  right  to 
control  it;  he  seeks  to  please  and  serve  not  self,  but 
Christ;  he  is  self-devoted.  He  lives  not,  nor  does  he 
die,  unto  himself,  but  unto  the  .Lord.  To  Christ, 
therefore,  he  leaves  the  question  when  and  how  he 
shall  die.  He  takes,  indeed,  all  proper  precautions 
against  danger;  he  uses  all  prudent  means  to  pro- 
long life;  this  he  does  as  a  faithful  servant  in  the 
interest  of  the  Master.  But  he  would  not  protract 
life  save  as  the  Lord  wills,  and  for  his  glory. 

This  man,  my  brethren,  belongs  to  the  noble  army 
of  martyrs.  In  the  first  centuries  of  Christianity 
some  disciples  coveted  the  martyr's  crown.  They 
were  eager  to  die  for  the  honor  of  the  gospel.  They 
shrank  not  from  torture  and  a  violent  end.  They 
longed  to  be  wrapped  in  a  robe  of  flame,  that  their 
names  might  be  enrolled  on  the  honorable  list  of 
martyrs,  and  that  they  might  be  exalted  to  the  high 
rank  which  martyrs  receive  from  their  Lord.  There 
was  too  much  of  self  in  this  ambition,  and  it  was 
not  wise.  If  he  wills  that  we  tarry,  why  should  we 
be  in  haste  to  depart?  Christ  looks  upon  the  heart, 
and  we  have  already  died  for  his  sake  who  are  will- 
ing to  die  when  it  shall  please  him.  It  was  formerly 
the  usage  that  ministers  on  joining  an  Annual  Con- 
ference, if  willing  to  serve  in  a  foreign  laud,  should 
place  their  names  on  a  separate  list;  they  were  not 
yet  missionaries  in  fact,  but  they  were  in  spirit,  and 
might  be  sent  to  any  part  of  the  globe.  So  ought 
each  of  us  to  place  his  name  on  the  roll  of  Christ's 
servants  as  fully  consecrated,  ready  for  any  service, 
ready  for  any  length  of  life,  ready  for  any  hour  and 


388  LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND. 

mode  of  death.  There  is  sometimes  in  an  army  a 
picked  body,  a  forlorn  hope,  men  who  are  willing 
to  be  sent  on  the  most  desperate  enterprise,  to  be 
placed  in  the  forefront  of  danger.  The  soldiers  of 
the  cross  should  not  court  peril  for  its  own  sake,  but 
not  one  of  them  should  refuse  to  encounter  the  se- 
verest at  the  command  of  the  Captain. 

The  man  who  thus  loses  his  life  by  self-surrender 
shall  find  it.  God  is  able  to  bring  him  safely  out  of 
the  thick  of  the  battle.  We  forget  that  "  unto  God 
the  Lord  belong  the  issues "  (the  escapes)  "  from 
death."  Life  is  among  the  promises  to  his  servants, 
and  an  untimely  death  one  of  the  threatening! 
against  transgressors.  Safety  is  nowhere  found 
except  beneath  his  sheltering  wing.  Abigail  under- 
stood this  truth.  She  had  a  strong  faith  which 
prevailed  against  appearances.  Saul  sat  on  the 
throne,  and  hated  David  with  a  deadly  hate.  David 
was  a  fugitive,  hiding  in  wilderness  and  mountain. 
Yet  Abigail  said  to  him :  "  The  Lord  will  certainly 
make  my  lord  a  sure  house;  because  my  lord  fight- 
eth  the  battles  of  the  Lord,  and  evil  hath  not  been 
found  in  thee  all  thy  days.  Yet  a  man  is  risen  to 
pursue  thee,  and  to  seek  thy  soul;  but  the  soul  of 
my  lord  shall  be  bound  in  the  bundle  of  life  with 
the  Lord  thy  God;  and  the  souls  of  thine  enemies, 
them  shall  he  sling  out,  as  out  of  the  middle  of  a 
sling."  Perhaps  you  are  thinking  that  this  was 
under  the  old  dispensation,  when  the  divine  promises 
referred  more  to  temporal  blessings  than  under  our 
spiritual  economy.  But  listen  to  Peter  as  he  repeats 
the  words  of  the  psalmist:  "For  he  that  will  love 


LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND.  389 

life,  and  see  good  days,  let  him  refrain  his  tongue 
from  evil,  and  his  lips  that  they  speak  no  guile ;  let 
him  eschew  evil,  and, do  good;  let  him  seek  peace, 
and  pursue  it."  I  doubt  not  that  God  ofttimes 
spreads  his  shield  around  his  servants  in  the  hour 
of  danger,  because  they  have  not  hesitated  to  risk 
life  in  his  service.  They  are  kept  alive  in  the  time 
of  famine ;  they  are  delivered  from  the  snare  of  the 
fowler,  and  from  the  noisome  pestilence.  "  With  long 
life  will  I  satisfy  him,  and  show  him  my  salvation." 

The  consecrated  man  truly  enjoys  so  much  of 
life  as  it  pleases  God  to  give  him.  His  is  a  charmed 
life.  I  do  not  say  that  he  is  not  mortal,  that  his 
life  is  secure  against  disease,  accident,  and  murder; 
but  he  wears  a  charm  against  anxiety  and  alarm. 
Fear  has  not  a  weapon  in  all  her  armory  that  can 
harm  him.  Death  stands  in  his  path,  and  bran- 
dishes a  resistless  dart;  but  he  does  not  quit  the  way 
of  duty,  nor  slacken  his  pace,  nor  tremble  and  grow 
pale:  his  strong  enemy  is  defeated.  The  intensest 
anxiety  cannot  preserve  life,  and  may  cut  it  short; 
but  the  servant  of  Christ  can  derive  from  life  the 
greatest  profit,  because  saved  from  tormenting  fear. 
Calm  and  confident,  he  makes  the  best  use  of  all 
his  hours,  and  commits  to  Providence  the  question 
how  long  he  shall  live  and  labor.  He  walks  amid 
dangers,  and  fears  not. 

II.  The  paradox  is  true  of  all  those  blessings  which 
make  life  happy  and  desirable.  He  who  seeks  them 
as  his  chief  end  suffers  their  loss;  he  who  sacrifices 
them  for  Christ  thereby  gains  them. 

Even  life  in  its  narrowest  sense  is  often  lost  in  the 


390  LIFE    LOST    AND   FOUND. 

eagerness  to  gain  the  world.  Men  toil  beyond  their 
strength  for  mammon  and  honor,  or  expose  them- 
selves to  voluntary  danger,  and  meet  a  premature 
end.  They  are  immoderate  in  pleasure  and  fashion, 
and  their  race  is  soon  run.  They  live  fast:  the  can- 
dle is  soon  consumed  to  make  a  bright  blaze.  Many 
men  and  women  put  themselves  in  an  earl}7  grave 
by  over-devotion  to  the  world. 

If  they  do  not  shorten  life,  they  reduce  the  stock 
of  earthly  goods  by  the  very  means  employed  for 
their  increase.  Avarice,  grasping  after  more,  drops 
from  her  hands  what  she  already  held.  Ambition, 
eager  to  climb  some  towering  height,  grows  dizz}^ 
heeds  not  the  slippery  rocks,  and  is  dashed  against 
the  rocks  below.  Vanity,  ever  listening  for  praise, 
and  boastful,  provokes  contempt  and  ridicule.  Pride, 
casting  away  with  scorn  all  friendly  support,  trips 
and  falls,  and  there  are  none  to  help  him  to  his  feet 
again.  Greed  is  punished  by  satiety;  pleasure,  too 
long  pursued,  produces  exhaustion  and  ennui;  the 
edge  of  appetite  is  dulled,  and  the  choicest  luxu- 
ries cannot  whet  it;  gluttony  becomes  gout,  and 
drink  mania;  the  craving  grows  stronger,  but  the 
capacity  of  enjoyment  lessens,  and  the  worst  of  the 
wine  is  at  the  last  of  the  feast;  life  indeed  has  lost 
its  wine,  and  has  become  mere  dregs,  if  not  worm- 
wood and  gall. 

Besides,  we  should  take  into  account  the  retrib- 
utive providence  of  God.  World-worship  and  self- 
worship  are  idolatrous,  and  all  idolatry  is  accursed 
of  God.  Often  he  breaks  to  pieces  the  idol.  This 
may  be  a  mercy  as  well  0.8  a  judgment:  peradvent- 


LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND.  391. 

ure,  when  the  idolized  object  is  removed,  we  will 
seek  the  Creator,  and  give  him  our  hearts.  But 
often  men  lose  the  world  without  gaining  the  soul. 
Haman  thought  only  of  self  and  the  glory  of  the 
world ;  he  would  have  poured  forth  the  blood  of 
the  whole  Jewish  captivity  as  a  libation  to  his 
wounded  pride;  but  just  Providence  thwarted  his 
revenge,  and  hung  him  on  the  gallows  he  had  built 
for  a  better  man — wealth,  honor,  family,  and  life,  all 
destroyed  in  a  day. 

When  the  man  of  the  world  loses  his  portion,  he 
is  deeply  grieved  and  disconsolate,  for  it  is  his  all, 
and  his  heart  was  so  set  upon  it.  "  He  that  loveth 
his  life  shall  lose  it."  He  is  like  Jacob  mourning 
over  Joseph,  his  favorite  son.  He  is  desperate  as 
Micah  when  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice  after  the 
children  of  Dan,  who  had  stolen  his  ephod,  and  ter- 
aphim,  and  graven  image,  "  Ye  have  taken  away 
my  gods  which  I  made,  and  what  have  I  more?" 
The  gloss  is  worn  off  from  life,  and  it  appears  a  dull 
and  worthless  thing.  The  sparkle  and  the  sharp- 
ness are  vanished  from  the  bowl,  and  it  is  hence- 
forth flat  and  insipid.  The  remainder  of  his  days 
are  spent  in  complaining  of  the  injustice  or  caprice 
of  fortune,  in  grieving  over  riches  that  have  flown  to 
return  no  more;  honors  that  have  withered  never  to 
rebloom  ;  youth,  and  health,  and  flow  of  spirits, 
that  have  given  place  to  the  depression,  querulous- 
ness,  and  infirmities  of  sickness  and  old  age;  joys 
which  like  torches  are  consumed,  and  leave  an  un- 
cheered  gloom  to  deepen  into  the  despair  and  hor- 
ror of  the  grave. 


392  LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND. 

The  believer,  in  consecrating  life  to  Christ,  con- 
secrates also  whatever  is  accessory  to  life.  Life,  with 
all  its  incidents,  he  puts  into  the  hands  of  the  Mas- 
ter. Not  only  how  long  he  shall  live,  but  his  lot 
and  the  mode  of  his  service,  are  matters  not  self- 
elected,  but  surrendered  to  Christ,  whose  he  is,  and 
whom  he  serves.  lie  thus  loses,  places  out  of  his 
own  choice  and  control,  the  good  things  of  life;  and 
in  the  loss  he  finds.  He  gets  back  what  he  has 
given  up,  and  he  gets  it  back  with  a  heightened 
value.  The  true  use  and  enjoyment  of  the  world 
are  possible  only  on  condition  of  entire  devotedness 
to  Christ. 

We  must  glance  at  the  attitude  of  the  Christian 
toward  the  good  things  of  earth — I  mean  riches, 
honor,  friendship,  domestic  happiness,  health,  and 
like  comforts.  In  the  strong  language  of  the  Mas- 
ter, he  is  required  to  forsake,  and  even  hate,  them 
all  for  his  sake.  But  he  has  explained  the  sense  in 
which  this  renunciation  and  hatred  are  to  be  un- 
derstood. "  He  that  loveth  father  or  mother  more 
than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me;  and  he  that  loveth 
son  or  daughter  more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of 
me."  The  hatred  is,  therefore,  a  relative  term — 
they  are  to  be  hated  in  comparison  with  Christ. 
They  are  not  the  principal  thing.  They  are  not  su- 
premely loved.  They  are  not  sought  as  the  prime 
end  of  life.  They  are  counted  loss  for  the  excel- 
lency of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 
The  disciple  has  virtually  forsaken  them  in  the 
fixed  purpose  to  do  so,  rather  than  let  them  hinder 
him  in  the  service  of  Christ,  and  in  his  willingness 


LIFE   LOST    AND    FOUND.  393 

that  they  be  taken  away  at  God's  pleasure.  But 
these  things  are  promised  to  the  faithful  servant,  and 
therefore  he  does  not  cease  to  prize  and  desire  them, 
if  they  can  be  enjoyed  consistently  with  duty. 

This  is  true  of  riches.  "  The  blessing  of  the  Lord, 
it  maketh  rich,  and  he  addeth  no  sorrow  with  it." 

It  is  true  of  esteem  and  friendship.  "A  good 
name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches,  and 
loving  favor  rather  than  silver  and  gold."  "  When 
a  man's  ways  please  the  Lord,  he  maketh  even  his 
enemies  to  be  at  peace  with  him." 

It  is  true  of  promotion.  "  I  will  set  him  on  high, 
because  he  hath  known  my  name."  "  Length  of 
days  is  in  her  right-hand,  and  in  her  left-hand 
riches  and  honor." 

It  is  true  of  the  endearments  of  home.  "Whoso 
findeth  a  wife,  findeth  a  good  thing,  and  obtaineth 
favor  of  the  Lord."  "A  prudent  wife  is  from  the 
Lord."  "  Lo,  children  are  an  heritage  of  the  Lord." 
"  Thy  children  shall  be  like  olive-plants  round  about 
thy  table." 

Now  these  things  are  doubly  blessed  to  the  faith- 
ful man.  They  give  him  the  greater  pleasure  be- 
cause his  heart  is  not  set  on  them — because  they  are 
not  his  sole,  nor  his  chief,  portion.  For,  instead  of 
insatiate  craving,  he  has  a  thankful  and  contented 
mind;  he  enjoys  what  it  pleases  Providence  to  fur- 
nish. Instead  of  anxieties  lest  what  he  has  be  lost, 
he  is  peaceful  and  fearless.  Every  worldly  posses- 
sion is  precarious  and  perishing.  The  apprehen- 
sion of  its  near  destruction,  and  the  assurance  that 
after  a  few  years  it  will  be  no  more,  embitter  the 
17* 


394  LIFE   LOST   AND    FOUND. 

present  use  to  him  who  loves  it  with  supreme  affec- 
tion. But  the  Christian  depends  not  on  these  things 
for  his  happiness,  and  can  innocently  enjoy  them 
while  they  last  without  being  cast  down  by  their 
insecurity. 

Moreover,  his  enjoyment  is  not  poisoned  by  re- 
morse. It  is  heightened  by  a  good  conscience. 
Whatever  he  possesses  he  has  acquired  in  an  honest 
and  honorable  manner.  He  puts  it  to  a  pure  and 
proper  use.  He  holds  it  in  subordination  to  God, 
as  a  loan  or  trust  from  him.  This  gives  to  every 
treasure  an  enhanced  value,  and  to  every  enjoyment 
a  keener  relish.  Let  us  apply  these  general  truths 
to  certain  details  of  life. 

Take  two  soldiers  at  the  close  of  a  day  of  deadly 
struggle.  Each  is  alive  and  unhurt.  But  one,  su- 
premely and  selfishly  loving  life,  skulked  and  ran: 
the  other  hated  life,  in  comparison  with  duty,  and 
seemed  ready  to  throw  it  away  as  a  vile  thing;  it 
would  have  been  vile  in  his  eyes  if  bought  by  cow- 
ardice and  desertion  of  his  post.  Which  of  the 
twain  has  the  happier  feeling,  the  richer  enjoyment 
of  life  and  health,  when  the  battle  is  over?  Or  take 
two  members  of  the  same  family,  when  the  house 
is  visited  by  a  fearful  contagious  disease:  one  flees 
for  safety;  the  other  watches  day  and  night  by  the 
bed  of  the  sick,  not  loving  life  so  as  to  interfere  with 
this  task  of  duty  and  affection.  One  saves  life  by 
flight,  the  other  is  preserved  amid  dangers.  Who  is 
the  happier? 

See  this  man,  who  is  not  a  money-lover,  not  cov- 
etous, nor  penurious;  he  has  wronged  no  man,  de- 


LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND.  395 

frauded  no  man ;  he  has  taken  no  short  cuts  to 
fortune  by  impure,  crafty,  harsh  means;  he  has  not 
withheld  bread  from  the  hungry,  nor  gold  from  the 
Lord's  treasury.  He  has  been  diligent  and  prudent 
in  business,  and  at  the  same  time  faithful  to  God, 
and  full  of  good  deeds;  and  he  has  prospered.  Now 
that  riches  have  increased,  he  sets  not  his  heart  on 
them;  he  knows  that  they  are  uncertain  and  un- 
trustworthy; he  is  willing  that  God  who  gave  shall 
take  away,  and  meanwhile  he  is  rich  in  good  works, 
ready  to  distribute.  Does  he  not  enjoy  wealth  far 
more  than  the  avaricious? 

See  this  man  who  is  not  selfishly  ambitious.  He 
has  not  been  a  worshiper  of  fame,  a  seeker  of  place 
and  praise.  He  has  striven  to  serve  Christ,  the 
Church,  and  humanity,  with  a  pure  motive,  in  for- 
getfulness  of  self.  But  others  have  discovered  and 
recognized  his  worth,  and  said,  "  Friend,  go  up 
higher."  They  have  felt  their  need  of  his  talents 
and  integrity,  and,  like  the  ointment  which  Mary 
poured  on  the  feet  of  Jesus,  the  fragrance  of  his 
virtues  and  charity  has  spread  abroad;  what  he  did 
with  a  single  eye  for  Christ's  sake  has  come  back 
to  him  in  the  shape  of  esteem,  confidence,  and  an 
enviable  reputation.  Modestly  he  wears  the  honors 
he  did  not  seek,  but  does  not  make  of  them  an  idol 
— does  not  consider  them  essential  to  his  happiness. 
Has  he  not  a  fuller  enjoyment  than  the  most  suc- 
cessful aspirant  after  office,  rank,  and  fame?  Joseph 
risks  every  thing  rather  than  sin  against  God,  and 
God  raises  him  to  power  and  dignity  only  less  than 
royal,  and  by  him  dispenses  greater  than  royal 


396  LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND. 

bounty.  Was  not  his  a  richer  satisfaction  than  if 
ho  had  gained  the  same  height  by  crime? 

See  this  man  in  the  bosom  of  his  own  family,  and 
among  friends.  He  has  never  sought  favor  at  the 
expense  of  duty.  He  does  not  love  wife  and  chil- 
dren more  than  Christ.  Not  even  to  please  them, 
not  even  to  enjoy  their  dear  society,  would  he  re- 
lax principle,  or  neglect  the  service  of  his  Lord. 
He  loves  them  in  the  Lord.  He  seeks  not  self,  but 
them,  in  his  daily  course;  and  they  love  him  with 
a  depth  and  intensity  proportionate  to  his  generous 
worth;  and  he  enjoys  their  happiness  and  affection 
in  the  degree  of  his  own  pure  love.  But  he  loves 
and  cherishes  them  in  the  spirit  of  consecration  to 
the  Master,  and  commits  them,  as  he  does  himself, 
to  the  gentle  care  of  his  faithful  Saviour.  Is  he  not 
the  happier  husband,  father,  friend,  because  of  this 
spirit?  Isaac,  child  of  love  and  promise,  is  offered 
and  restored;  but  henceforth  he  has  a  higher  value, 
he  is  a  greater  blessing,  because  the  father  had  not 
withheld  his  loved  son. 

III.  The  paradox  is  fulfilled  even  in  those  cases 
in  which  the  devotee  of  worldly  good  not  only  seeks 
but  finds  it;  the  finding  proves  to  be  not  profit,  but 
loss;  and  in  those  cases  in  which  life  and  its  com- 
forts are  not  only  risked,  but  lost,  for  Christ,  the  loss 
proves  to  be  gain. 

Excessive  love  of  the  world  unfits  for  its  proper 
use  and  enjoyment.  The  miser  is  a  notable  instance. 
He  is  possessed  with  a  demon  of  avarice — an  insane 
and  insatiate  greed  of  gold.  Does  he  enjoy  his 
wealth?  He  begrudges  every  penny  spent  on  him- 


LIFE    LOST   AND   FOUND.  397 

self  or  his  family.  He  hates  to  pay  his  taxes  and 
debts.  He  is  in  the  fire  of  torment  through  dread 
that  all  he  has  will  be  lost.  He  is  never  satisfied,  but 
his  hungry  heart  ever  cries  out,  "  Give!  give !  "  He 
finds  and  loses  at  the  same  moment,  and  in  the  same 
process.  Avarice  may  gather  and  hoard,  but  can- 
not enjoy;  half-starved,  it  keeps  the  manna  until 
it  rots. 

A  like  misery  is  the  curse  of  inordinate  ambition. 
The  man  of  ambition,  in  seeking  honor,  is  uneasy 
and  fearful  of  failure.  As  soon  as  the  summit  is 
gained, he  trembles  lest  he  be  cast  down;  or,  in  rest- 
less aspiration  after  something  higher,  he  loses  the 
joy  of  the  triumph  already  achieved. 

The  selfish  man,  if  vain  and  athirst  for  flattery, 
vexes  himself  when  praise  is  withheld  or  faint,  or 
by  the  suspicion  that  it  is  insincere;  and  every  slight 
or  censure  is  like  a  poisoned  arrow  in  his  sensitive 
soul,  or  like  a  wound  in  itself  trifling,  when  the 
blood  is  bad,  for  it  festers,  and  cannot  be  healed. 
The  selfish  man  longs  for  esteem,  confidence,  and 
love;  but  if  he  be  able,  despite  his  un worthiness, 
to  draw  forth  such  sentiments,  he  can  have  little 
gratification,  because  we  must  love  with  a  pure  and 
generous  heart  in  order  to  enjoy  the  happiness  of 
being  loved;  the  feeling  must  be  mutual.  The  self- 
ish man  is  willful,  head-strong,  jealous,  envious;  and 
thus  he  makes  his  own  rough  road  to  travel  by  day, 
and  his  own  bed  of  thorns  on  which  to  lie  down 
at  night;  for  he  ever  provokes,  or  else  imagines, 
opposition.  If  there  be  no  substantial  cause  for  jeal- 
ousy, 


398  LIFE  LOST  AND  FOUND. 

Trifles  light  as  air 

Are,  to  the  jealous,  confirmations  strong 
As  proofs  of  holy  writ. 

And  however  prosperous  and  exalted  he  may  be,  he 
will  find  some  rival  of  whom  to  be  jealous,  or  some 
superior  whom  to  envy. 

Let  me  cite  a  few  examples:  See  King  Ahab  in 
all  his  pride  and  affluence.  Is  he  the  happiest  per- 
son in  all  the  kingdom  ?  There  is  many  a  maiden 
dowerless  who  sings  merrily  at  her  task,  early  and 
late;  there  is  many  a  peasant  in  rented  cottage  who 
owns  no  foot  of  land,  but  goes  forth  with  light  heart 
and  quiet  countenance  to  his  daily  toil  for  humble 
hire;  but  this  king  is  heavy  and  displeased,  and 
shuts  himself  up  in  his  house  and  chamber,  and  lies 
abed,  and  turns  his  face  to  the  wall,  and  will  not 
taste  food.  What  has  happened?  He  is  not  sick; 
none  of  his  children  have  died ;  no  enemy  makes 
war  against  him.  But  Naboth,  one  of  his  subjects, 
has  a  vineyard  near  the  palace  which  Ahab  fancies 
as  a  garden  of  herbs  for  himself,  and  offers  to  buy 
it,  or  to  give  a  better  vineyard  for  it ;  and  Naboth 
refuses  to  part  with  this  land,  which  has  come  down 
from  his  fathers.  Did  not  Ahab,  in  his  coveting 
and  willfulness,  lose  all  benefit  of  his  wealth  and 
royalty  ? 

See  the  first  prince  of  Assyria,  the  favorite  of 
Ahasuerus.  We  will  look  into  his  heart,  not  when 
the  color  fled  his  cheeks  and  strength  his  joints,  and, 
all  his  pride  and  insolence  crushed,  he  fell  at  the 
feet  of  Esther  to  beg  his  life;  not  when  he  was 
dragged  forth  to  the  gallows  he  had  made  for  Mor- 


LIFE    LOST   AND   FOUND.  399 

decai;  but  when  he  stood  proudly  erect,  a  pillar  of 
state  bearing  up  the  weight  of  an  empire,  when  he 
was  in  the  midst  of  his  untold  wealth,  and  many 
children,  and  peerless  honors.  Shall  I  call  him  a 
wretch  ?  Shall  I  declare  him  more  miserable  than 
his  own  servants,  than  even  the  despised  and  down- 
trodden Jews?  I  will  let  him  tell  the  tale  himself. 
I  bid  you  listen  when,  in  a  moment  of  confidence,  his 
overcharged  heart  uttered  itself  to  a  council  of  his 
friends,  and  of  Zeresh  his  wife:  "And  Haman  told 
them  of  the  glory  of  his  riches,  and  the  multitude 
of  his  children,  and  all  the  things  wherein  the  king 
had  promoted  him,  and  how  he  had  advanced  him 
above  the  princes  and  servants  of  the  king."  Elo- 
quent description!  Fortunate  man!  Do  they  listen 
with  real  envy,  through  pretended  sympathy?  or  is 
he  too  great  for  their  envy?  and  are  they  content  to 
catch  a  few  drops  of  happiness  that  overflow  his 
cup,  and  to  shine  in  his  favor  as  he  shines  in  the 
light  of  the  royal  countenance  ?  But  he  has  not 
told  all.  His  honors  are  not  stale.  The  charm  of 
novelty,  the  happy  surprise  of  fresh  favors,  still  re- 
mains. He  is  mounting,  and  his  foot  is  well-nigh 
on  the  top-round  of  a  subject's  possible  attainment. 
He  has  not  one  competitor.  "  Haman  said,  more- 
over, Yea,  Esther  the  queen  did  let  no  man  come 
in  with  the  king  unto  the  banquet  that  she  had  pre- 
pared but  myself;  and  to-morrow  am  I  invited  unto 
her  also  with  the  king/'  Now  hear  the  conclusion 
of  this  glowing  description  of  Haman 's  glory :  "  Yet 
all  this  availeth  me  nothing,  so  long  as  I  see  Mor- 
decai  the  Jew  sitting  at  the  king's  gate."  He  goes, 


400  LIFE   LOST    AND   FOUND. 

by  the  advice  of  his  wife,  to  ask  the  immediate  and 
ignominious  death  of  Mordecai,  as  a  sweet  morsel 
to  appease  the  gnawing  hunger  of  his  proud  heart, 
that  made  vain  and  empty  all,  all  the  glory  of  his  state. 

With  light  tread  stole  he  on  his  evil  way, 
With  light  tread  Vengeance  stole  on  after  him. 
Unseen,  she  stands  already  dark  behind  him — 
But  one  step  more — he  shudders  in  her  grasp ! 

Yet  life  was  wretched,  its  profit  and  pleasure  lost, 
before  he  met  his  doom  on  the  gallows;  no  gifts  of 
fortune  could  avail  him  aught,  because  be  had  a 
selfish,  haughty,  greedy,  cruel  heart. 

Life  is  really  lost  when  saved  at  the  expense 
of  conscience,  honor,  character — of  those  principles 
which  are  too  precious  and  sacred  to  be  bartered 
away  for  any  price.  Satan  said,  "All  that  a  man  hath 
will  he  give  for  his  life."  But  life,  though  weight- 
ed and  glittering  with  all  earthly  jewels,  is  a  dear 
bargain  when  purchased  with  guilt  and  shame;  it 
will  prove,  like  the  fabled  apples,  beautiful  and  in- 
viting to  the  eye,  but  rottenness  within.  Macbeth 
listened  to  the  "juggling  fiends"  who  cried,  "All 
hail !  thou  shalt  be  king  hereafter,"  and,  by  the  mur- 
der of  his  friend,  guest,  and  king,  seized  the  "  gold- 
en round,"  and  crowned  his  own  brow.  But  what 
value  had  his  crown  when  he  exclaimed, 

I  have  lived  long  enough;  my  way  of  life 

Is  fallen  into  the  sear,  the  yellow  leaf. 

And  that  which  should  accompany  old  age, 

As  honor,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends, 

I  must  not  look  to  have ;  but,  in  their  stead, 

Curses,  not  loud,  but  deep,  mouth-honor,  breath, 

Which  the  poor  heart  would  fain  deny,  but  dare  not. 


LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND.  401 

Herodias  indulged  a  guilty  love  for  Herod,  or  an 
ambition  to  be  his  wife,  and  she  forsook  her  own 
husband,  his  brother.  She  attains  what  she  sought — 
Herod's  fondness,  a  share  in  his  wealth,  the  flattery 
of  the  courtiers,  all  the  gayeties  and  splendor  of  his 
position.  But  is  she  happy  in  this  criminal  course? 
There  is  one  eating  ulcer  in  her  heart — an  evil  con- 
science— that  keeps  her  uneasy  with  fear  that  Herod 
will  cast  her  off;  that  excites  a  deadly,  implacable 
rancor  and  hatred  against  John  the  Baptist,  who  re- 
buked the  sin.  She  rests  not  until  the  head  of  the 
prophet  is  brought  to  her  in  a  charger  by  that  beau- 
tiful and  graceful  Cancer,  Salome — those  lips  forever 
silenced  which  had  declared  her  shame.  But  does 
she  rest  now?  Did  her  crime  need  an  outward  voice 
to  proclaim  and  denounce  it?  Did  not  conscience 
speak  within — conscience,  whose  lips  could  not  be 
sealed  by  the  knife  of  the  executioner?  Did  the 
fresh  sin  of  a  good  man's  blood  soothe  her  troubled 
breast? 

Take  another  case — Judas  Iscariot.  Money  was 
life  in  his  estimation,  for  he  had  a  covetous  soul,  and 
was  a  thief.  He  sold  his  Lord,  and  the  silver  coins 
were  counted,  and  paid  into  his  hands.  He  wins  and 
loses — loses  far  more  than  he  won.  What  shall  he 
do  with  the  money?  The  rust,  the  canker  of  the 
innocent  blood  upon  the  silver,  eats  into  his  flesh 
like  fire.  He  is  self -consumed  by  remorse.  He 
dashes  down  the  wages  of  his  treachery,  and  hangs 
himself,  losing  at  once  riches  and  life. 

To-day  men  live  who,  in  the  too  eager  craving  for 
life,  or  for  life's  treasures  and  joys,  have  saved  life 


402  LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND. 

when  endangered,  have  saved  property,  have  ac- 
quired wealth,  office,  rank,  the  brave  show  and  glit- 
ter of  the  world,  by  fleeing  from  duty,  by  the  com- 
promise of  principle,  by  the  violation  of  truth,  justice, 
honor;  they  have  lost  self-respect,  and  the  respect 
of  their  fellows;  they  have  offended  God,  and  put 
into  the  hand  of  Conscience  a  scourge ;  life  is  robbed 
of  all  peace  and  comfort,  and  becomes  a  burden; 
they  loved  it  too  well,  they  were  too  hot  and  hasty 
to  preserve  it,  and  they  have  gained  only  a  loss  and 
a  grievance. 

Life  is  lost  also  when  its  opportunities  for  noble 
self-culture  and  useful  deed  slip  away  unimproved. 
Youth  passes,  and  all  its  facilities  for  the  education 
of  the  heart,  for  the  acquisition  of  true  wisdom  and 
of  pure  and  generous  habits,  are  neglected  and  de- 
spised. That  soul  is  bare  and  barren  ground,  or  a 
wilderness  of  weeds,  which  should  be  a  beautiful 
and  fruitful  garden  unto  the  Lord.  Manhood  ad- 
vances to  the  fullness  of  strength,  and  declines  to 
old  age;  but  no  pains  have  been  taken  to  cultivate 
the  spiritual  nature,  and  enjoy  the  hallowed  delights 
of  fellowship  with  God.  Means  are  plentifully  fur- 
nished by  Providence  for  works  of  piety  and  use- 
fulness— the  whole  world,  from  his  own  doors  to 
the  most  savage  wilds,  calls  aloud  for  help;  but  he 
heeds  not  the  call;  he  squanders  the  hours  and  all 
his  resources  in  idleness,  intemperance,  extrava- 
gance, or  selfish  pursuits.  At  length  life's  limit  is 
reached,  and  he  looks  back  with  vain  and  bitter  re- 
gret, saying,  "  My  life  is  lost,  lost,  lost.  It  has  been 
a  long  one.  I  had  many  advantages  to  make  it 


LIFE   LOST   AND.  FOUND.  403 

happy,  exalted,  and  beneficent.  Some  may  call  it 
fortunate.  I  have  had  my  pleasures,  friendships, 
success.  But  what  profit  is  there  in  it  all?  I  have 
thrown  away  my  soul.  I  have  not  used  my  privi- 
leges. I  have  not  finished  the  work  which  God  gave 
me  to  do.  Life  has  not  been  adorned  with  good 
deeds;  and  when  I  sleep,  no  holy  influence  shall  sur- 
vive my  body  to  bless  the  world.  Nothing  of  solid 
and  permanent  worth  has  been  accomplished.  The 
very  blessings  of  life  have  drawn  away  my  mind 
from  its  real  purpose,  its  highest  aims.  I  have  found 
only  to  lose." 

He  who  not  only  surrenders,  but  actually  loses,  in 
Christ's  cause  the  good  things  of  this  world,  finds 
life  in  a  nobler  sense,  and  is  far  more  than  compen- 
sated. In  the  language  of  our  Lord,  he  receives  a 
hundred-fold  now  in  this  time.  For  the  true  life, 
rny  brethren,  does  not  consist  in,  does  not  depend  on, 
the  outward,  capricious  condition — on  the  measure 
of  riches,  reputation,  and  honor — not  even  on  the 
health  of  the  body — not  even  on  the  lives  of  our 
household.  The  true  life  is  of  the  soul,  of  the  con- 
science, of  the  higher  and  immortal  affections,  of 
spiritual  desires  and  capacities.  This  is  the  life 
of  God  in  us,  our  life  in  God,  our  life  hidden  with 
Christ  in  God.  "  To  me  to  live  is  Christ." 

O  my  brethren,  never  is  the  question  so  inappro- 
priate, never  is  the  reproof  so  unjust,  "Wherefore 
all  this  waste?"  as  when  Avarice  asks  it  in  refer- 
ence to  the  service  and  costly  gifts  poured  forth 
freely  for  Christ's  sake! 

You  have  taken  precious  time  away  from  your 


404  LIFE    LOST   AND   FOUND. 

business,  and  spent  it  in  doing  Christ's  work,  look- 
ing after  his  poor  and  afflicted  brethren,  or  study- 
ing and  toiling  for  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom. 
Is  it  time  lost?  Are  you  not  rewarded  in  the  ap- 
proval of  conscience,  in  the  knowledge  of  useful- 
ness, in  the  testimony  of  Christ's  love,  in  the  ex- 
pansion and  refinement  of  your  own  nature? 

You  have  given  money  to  the  cause  of  God,  or 
refused  money  because  of  a  scruple  of  conscience. 
I  do  not  promise  that  if"  will  be  returned  in  silver 
and  gold;  butisitlost?  It  will  come  back,  and  with 
a  manifold  increase,  in  the  luxury  of  doing  good,  in 
the  peace  of  a  good  conscience,  in  the  thought  that 
you  have  testified  your  love  to  Christ,  in  the  spirit 
of  unselfish  benevolence  you  have  cherished. 

You  have  left  for  a  season  family  and  home,  and 
gone  on  a  wearisome  journey  for  the  sake  of  Christ 
and  souls.  But  were  you  not  repaid  in  the  assur- 
ance of  his  presence  and  smile?  Though  your  house- 
hold lacked  your  care,  and  perhaps  you  could  not 
hear  for  weeks  how  they  fared,  and  could  not  have 
hasted  to  their  side  if  they  had  fallen  ill,  yet  was 
there  not  a  pro  founder  peace,  a  better  security,  in 
intrusting  them  to  the  Master  you  served  ? 

Health,  reputation,  friendship,  may  be  sacrificed 
for  Jesus;  but  a  joy  infinitely  sweeter  and  deeper  is 
derived  from  the  loss,  because  his  love  exceeds  them 
all.  Whatever  we  give  up  in  his  name  is  restored 
in  patience,  resignation,  fortitude,  courage,  faith, 
hope,  charity,  a  closer  clinging  to  Christ,  a  stronger 
conviction  of  the  value  and  substantial  truth  of 
eternal  things. 


LIFE   LOST   AND   FOUND.  405 

IV.  That  life  is  lost  which  makes  no  preparation 
for  the  endless  hereafter;  and  though  life  be  actu- 
ally lost  for  the  sake  of  the  gospel,  it  is  kept  unto 
eternal  life. 

How  will  you  think  of  it,  friend,  on  your  dying- 
bed?  I  grant  you  a  long  and  prosperous  career  on 
earth ;  but  it  is  finished.  I  grant  you  great  riches 
here;  but  you  have  not  laid  up  any  treasure  above.. 
I  grant  you  the  honor  which  comes  from  men  ;  but 
no  crown  of  fadeless  glory  awaits  you  yonder.  I 
grant  you  a  merry  and  joyous  lot;  but  you  antici- 
pate no  delight  in  the  eternal  future.  Every  arrow 
in  the  quiver  is  spent.  Each  day  was  a  diamond  of 
greater  value  than  all  the  crown -jewels  of  earth; 
but  the  store  is  exhausted — these  gems  have  dropped 
into  the  bottomless  sea  of  the  past.  The  oil  of  life's 
lamp  is  consumed,  and  its  bowl  is  shattered.  What 
remains?  Too  late  to  think  of  that  now.  Hope, 
that  would  have  allured  you  to  a  better  land,  and 
thrown  upon  the  future  a  radiance  more  intense  by 
contrast  with  the  deepening  darkness  of  life's  close, 
has  left  you,  reluctant  to  leave,  but  slighted,  scorned, 
driven  away — has  left  you,  never  to  return — has  left 
you,  and  will  not  hear,  however  loud  you  call ;  and 
eternity  has  for  you  no  promise,  no  light,  no  treas- 
ure. You  will  be  flung,  a  miserable  wreck,  upon  the 
coasts  of  the  eternal  hereafter,  when  you  might  have 
entered  with  swoln  sails  the  haven  of  heavenly  hap- 
piness. 

The  believer,  in  dying,  does  not  lose,  but  finds,  life. 
He  loses  the  wants,  pains,  infirmities,  sorrows,  of 
life;  he  gains  rest,  joy,  honor,  plenty.  He  puts  oft' 


406  LIFE   LOST  AND   FOUND. 

the  mortal ;  he  puts  on  immortality.  He  dies  as 
the  grub  dies  into  the  butterfly;  as  the  seed  dies 
into  the  beautiful  flower,  and  the  grain  into  the 
fruitful  stalk;  as  the  night  dies  into  the  day,  and 
the  winter  into  the  quickening  spring;  as  faith  dies 
into  sight,  and  hope  into  full  fruition.  He  now  finds 
all  that  he  ever  lost  for  Christ.  The  moth-and-rust- 
eaten  riches  he  gave  up  are  here  in  the  form  of  in- 
corruptible treasures.  The  honors,  withering  as  the 
grass  of  the  field,  which  he  forsook,  are  here  in  the 
form  of  a  crown  of  imperishable  glory.  The  friend- 
ships he  sacrificed  rather  than  violate  duty,  which 
might  have  been  a  solace  and  support  a  few  years 
below,  are  here  in  the  form  of  the  family  of  God, 
never  to  be  parted.  The  labors  he  performed  for 
Christ  are  here  in  their  testimony  in  his  favor,  and 
in  the  reward  his  Lord  bestows.  The  hours  spent 
for  Christ  come  trooping  to  bear  record  to  his  fidel- 
ity and  useful  deeds,  arid  Jesus  will  not  fail  to  say, 
"Well  done!" 

The  life  he  lost  for  Christ's  sake  is  here,  but,  it 
must  be  confessed,  can  scarcely  be  recognized  as 
the  same.  We  have  never  witnessed  rejuvenescence, 
but  we  may  imagine  the  reverse  of  the  change  by 
which  a  young  man  grows  old;  yet  this  will  not  suf- 
fice to  illustrate  the  change  from  a  mortal  to  an  im- 
mortal life.  We  have  seen  the  weak  and  wasted 
invalid  who  could  not  move  a  limb,  or  speak  a  word, 
raised  to  health  and  strength  again;  but  this  can- 
not compare  with  dropping  corruption  and  being 
clothed  with  incorruption.  The  transfiguration  of 
our  Lord  may  represent  it  to  us.  Our  life  here  shall 


LIFE   LOST    AND    FOUND.  407 

be  transfigured,  glorified  —  the  same,  yet  how  dif- 
ferent! The  same — for  if  we  have  not  the  true  life 
of  God  and  heaven  in  us  now,  we  cannot  enjoy  it 
hereafter :  there  must  be  the  germ,  the  principle,  of 
love  and  holiness;  yet  different,  for  the  decrepitude, 
the  soil,  the  dullness,  the  burden,  the  sorrows,  the 
temptations,  of  life  shall  have  forever  vanished,  and 
the  soul  be  disencumbered,  enlarged,  invigorated, 
exalted,  glorified. 

Here  would  we  end  our  quest : 

Alone  are  found  in  Thee 
The  life  of  perfect  love,  the  rest 

Of  immortality. 


THE  END. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     001  032048     9 


